Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Khader says gov't using all means to release businessman
kidnapped in Iraq
By Mahmoud Al Abed with agency dispatches
AMMAN — The government on Monday said it was “using all possible means” to help
release a Jordanian businessman kidnapped in Iraq.
Government Spokesperson Asma Khader said Jordanian diplomats in Baghdad were
“gathering information” on the abduction of Ibrahim Maharmeh, whose kidnappers
demanded $250,000 in ransom.
“We cannot give details now,” Khader, also minister of culture, told a weekly
press briefing.
The hostage's brother, Bilal, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying that
Maharmeh was abducted on Friday by a “gang” in Baghdad's Mansour neighbourhood.
“Yesterday morning [Sunday] we received a call from Ibrahim's office in Baghdad
and one of his assistants told us that the kidnappers demanded the ransom,”
Bilal said.
“We are trying to get his abductors to reduce the amount of the ransom.”
Maharmeh resides almost permanently in Baghdad, where he owns a house and runs
an import-export business, according to his brother.
One of his employees in Baghdad was able to talk on the phone with Maharmeh, who
told him he was fine, AFP said.
Quoting Foreign Ministry spokesperson Rajab Sukayri, the Associated Press
reported that Maharmeh was kidnapped by “thieves and blackmailers,” citing
information obtained by the embassy in Baghdad.
Sukayri said Maharmeh was warned by the embassy to leave Iraq following the
abduction of his other brother Taha in August. Taha was later released after his
family paid $50,000 in ransom, down from an initial demand of $250,000.
“But they did not listen to the advice,” Sukayri said.
Several Jordanians, most of them truck drivers, have been abducted in Iraq since
the downfall of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in April 2003, but most of
them returned home unharmed, although in some cases relatives said ransom was
paid.