Woman Hostage Freed

A Polish woman held hostage in Iraq by a militant group since late October has been freed. Teresa Borcz Khalifa, who is married to an Iraqi and also holds Iraqi citizenship, was treated well.

"It was a very happy moment when I was freed ... I think I will stay in Poland for the time being. I was held in good conditions and treated well and that gave me hope that I'd be freed," Ms Borcz Khalifa said.

She was kidnapped on October 27 in Baghdad by a little-known group that demanded Poland withdraw its troops from Iraq, a call flatly rejected by Warsaw.

Belka said Ms Khalifa had been brought to Poland on Friday evening, and that her release had been orchestrated by Polish government agencies in cooperation with other countries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4028369.stm

In some cases, negotiation works! I wish I could read more of the details ... what other countries contributed to her release? This is very good news!!

Belka refused to say when, where or how Borcz Khalifa was freed, but said that "officials of different services took part in her release in cooperation with institutions from many countries."

"I can't give you any details about the circumstances of this event for two reasons," Belka said. "First, because of security concerns for our people ... and also because our partners expressed a firm wish not to reveal any details of the release operation."

Early this month, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said he had asked US President George W Bush for help in freeing Borcz Khalifa. Polish officials did not say what kind of help Kwasniewski had in mind, but US troops freed another Polish hostage and three Italians from their captors in a raid in June.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11453397%255E1702,00.html

from a piece by Sam Hamod: "Who Killed Margaret Hassan? I Know"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7335.htm

"We also do not believe any Muslims did this. There is an dictum in the Qur'an which forbids the killing of women; also, the killing of hostages. Also, Muslims and Iraqis had nothing to gain by killing this innocent, God-like, saint of a woman."