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Carroll's Dad Thanks Those Who Helped:Posted By: Theodore Taylor By NATALIE GOTT, Associated Press Writer CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The phone rang just before 6 a.m. After three months of captivity in Iraq, freelance reporter Jill Carroll called her dad to let him know she was alive — and free."It was quite a wake up call, to say the least," Jim Carroll said Thursday in front of his home in Chapel Hill. "She's apparently in good health," he said. "She's mentally strong and we're all very pleased about that." Jill Carroll was left Thursday in the street near the Iraqi Islamic Party offices. She walked inside, and people there called American officials. "I was treated well, but I don't know why I was kidnapped," she said in a brief interview on Baghdad television. Near Chicago, her mother, Mary Beth Carroll, said she was trying to figure out the travel plans so she could hug her daughter again. "We're thrilled," she told The Associated Press in a quick phone call. Jill Carroll, 28, went to the Middle East in 2002 after being laid off from a newspaper job, fulfilling a long-held dream of covering a war. On Jan. 7, while going to interview Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, Carroll was kidnapped in Baghdad's western Adil neighborhood. Her translator was killed in the attack about 300 yards from al-Dulaimi's office. Her captors, calling themselves the Revenge Brigades, demanded the release of all women detainees in Iraq by Feb. 26 and said Carroll would be killed if that didn't happen. The date came and went with no word about her welfare. On Thursday, she was finally free. Carroll was handed over to the Iraqi Islamic Party office in Amiriya, western Baghdad, by an unknown group and then turned over to the Americans. She was believed to be in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. "I'm just happy to be free," she said. "I want to be with my family." Her release came a day after her sister pleaded for her freedom on Arab television. Katie Carroll noted there had been no word from her captors in nearly two months. "I've been living a nightmare, worrying if she is hurt or ill," Katie Carroll said, according to a transcript released by the Christian Science Monitor. Hours later, that nightmare came to an end. "Our hearts are full. We are elated by Jill's safe release," her family said in a statement released by the editor of The Christian Science Monitor, Richard Bergenheim. "We would like to thank all of the generous people around the world who worked officially or unofficially — especially those who took personal risk — to gain Jill's release. We're also very grateful for the support of the Iraqi people who've shown the world a deep compassion for Jill's situation." Bergenheim, speaking outside the newspaper's Boston headquarters, said no money had been exchanged for Carroll's release. "We simply know she was dropped off at the Iraqi Islamic party headquarters," he said. He said Carroll would soon learn that people of all faiths worldwide had been praying for her. "The chorus of Muslim leaders condemning this kidnapping has been louder and louder than has been heard for some time," Bergenheim said. In Cancun, Mexico, President Bush rejoiced at the news of Carroll's release. "I'm just really grateful she was released," Bush said. He thanked those "who worked so hard for her release. I'm glad she's alive." In Berlin for a conference with counterparts, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed "great delight and great relief of the United States, the people of the United States and, I'm sure, the people of the world at the release today of Jill Carroll." Courtesy Of: Yahoo! News The information reported above is property of Yahoo! inc. and reprinted or modified with legitimate permission. We thank Yahoo! inc. for the kind cooperation with us and other shareholders. |
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