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| Iraqi officials: Three Americans kidnapped in Baghdad are freed | Iraqi officials: Three Americans kidnapped in Baghdad are freed |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BAGHDAD — Three Americans who were kidnapped in the Iraqi capital a month ago have been freed, Iraqi officials and the State Department said. | BAGHDAD — Three Americans who were kidnapped in the Iraqi capital a month ago have been freed, Iraqi officials and the State Department said. |
| An Iraqi security official said he was "100 percent sure" that the hostages had been released after being held by an "armed group.” | An Iraqi security official said he was "100 percent sure" that the hostages had been released after being held by an "armed group.” |
| Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office, confirmed that they had been released but said he had no further details. | Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office, confirmed that they had been released but said he had no further details. |
| [Iraqi official: 3 Americans missing in Baghdad were kidnapped by gunmen] | |
| The Americans — two men and a woman who were working as contractors — were seized in the Dora neighborhood in southern Baghdad in an apartment the Iraqi police described as "suspicious." Shiite militias have a strong presence in the area, leading to suspicions that such a group was behind the abduction. | The Americans — two men and a woman who were working as contractors — were seized in the Dora neighborhood in southern Baghdad in an apartment the Iraqi police described as "suspicious." Shiite militias have a strong presence in the area, leading to suspicions that such a group was behind the abduction. |
| Iraqi security officials have given the names of the abducted individuals as Amro Mohamed, Wael al-Mahdawi and Rusul Farad, a woman. Mahdawi and Farad are Iraqi American, and Mohamed is Egyptian American. | |
| The State Department “welcomes the news that the Government of Iraq has secured the release of three U.S. citizens who were reported as missing in January,” it said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate the assistance provided by the Government of Iraq, and its whole-of-government effort to bring about the safe release of these individuals.” | The State Department “welcomes the news that the Government of Iraq has secured the release of three U.S. citizens who were reported as missing in January,” it said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate the assistance provided by the Government of Iraq, and its whole-of-government effort to bring about the safe release of these individuals.” |
| The security official, who declined to be named as he was speaking ahead of an official announcement, claimed that the Peace Brigades — a Shiite militia headed by Moqtada al-Sadr — “helped release them.” | The security official, who declined to be named as he was speaking ahead of an official announcement, claimed that the Peace Brigades — a Shiite militia headed by Moqtada al-Sadr — “helped release them.” |
| Read more | |
| Feared Shiite militias back in spotlight after three Americans vanish in Iraq | |
| Mustafa Salim contributed to this report. | Mustafa Salim contributed to this report. |