RAMADI, Iraq (AFP) - The governor of Iraq's restive Al-Anbar province resigned after three of his sons were released by their kidnappers on condition he quit.
Abdel Karim Berges told AFP he resigned after his sons, aged 15 to 30, were freed in Fallujah following one week in captivity. He paid no ransom but bowed to the kidnappers' demand that he leave office, said the governor.
Ramadi's chief administrator Mohammed Abed Awad has taken over his duties.
The sons were kidnapped by gunmen who barged into and torched the governor's family home in Ramadi while he was at work.
Ramadi is the main city in the mainly Sunni Muslim province of Al-Anbar, which also includes the flashpoint city of Fallujah where US troops have come under persistent attack and loyalty to Saddam Hussein still runs high.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040804/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_hostages_ramadi