Freed Romanian journalists leave Iraq
Three Romanian journalists who were held hostage in Iraq left Baghdad on a military plane bound for home on Monday.
Television reporter Marie Jeanne Ion and cameraman Sorin Miscoci, both of Prima TV, and Ovidiu Ohanesian, a reporter from the daily Romania Libera, were captured in Baghdad on 28 March with their guide, American-Iraqi Mohammed Monaf.
The four were freed on Sunday
“They left Baghdad … They are in good health,” Romania’s ambassador Mihai Stuparu told Realitatea TV on Monday.
The three Romanians were to be flown to a military air base outside Bucharest and were not expected to speak to the media after their arrival.
US custody
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“They left Baghdad … They are in good health” Mihai Stuparu, |
Monaf, who is married to a Romanian, has been transferred to US custody, the Romanian president’s office said in a statement.
The US embassy in Bucharest said he would remain in Baghdad for questioning.
“In preliminary interviews that took place on Sunday and again early this morning in Baghdad, it was determined that he had information indicating an imminent threat to the multinational coalition forces in Iraq,” the embassy said in a statement.
Romanian President Traian Basescu, who headed a top-level
crisis team that worked to free the hostages, said no
ransom had been paid to secure their release.