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Jordanian Hostages Freed After Iraq Raid
31 minutes ago
By SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - An Iraqi tribal chief in the turbulent city of Fallujah led a raid that freed four Jordanian hostages kidnapped a week ago, the chief said Wednesday.
A brother of one of the four hostages, Mohammed abu Jaafar said from Jordan that he'd spoken by telephone with his brother Ahmad, who told him: "Now I am free. I was in the hands of evil people. Now I am in the hands of good people."
Sheik Haj Ibrahim Jassam said he received word on Tuesday evening that four kidnapped Jordanians were being held in a house on the edge of the city of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad. He said that once the raid began, the kidnappers fled the house and the four men were brought to his house unharmed.
"I called upon my brothers and tribesmen to free the hostages, so we raided the house last night," Jassam told The Associated Press. "I'm glad that those innocent Muslims were freed."
The four men were abducted by a group calling itself "Mujahedeen of Iraq (news - web sites), the Group of Death." The kidnapping became known on July 27 when Dubai Television broadcast a video tape showing four men holding what appeared to be Jordanian identification cards.
Families of the four three drivers and a businessman had previously said the kidnappers promised to free the Jordanians after their relatives and fellow truck drivers staged an anti-American demonstration last Friday.
