Jordan Times
Friday, August 13, 2004
Jordanian hostage freed
AMMAN (JT) — Unknown kidnappers on Thursday released citizen Jamal Saliemeh in
Iraq, a Jordan News Agency, Petra, corespondent reported.
Petra gave no further details, but later said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ali
Ayed confirmed Saliemeh's release.
On Monday, three men wearing police uniforms stormed Saliemeh's residence in
Baghdad's Seediyeh district and took him in a white car to an unknown
destination. The kidnappers demanded a $250,000 ransom, but it was unclear
whether they received the money. Sixty three-year-old Saliemeh, who has been
working since 1994 in Iraq as an agent for a Korean tyre company, suffers from
diabetes and heart problems. He is a father of three. Kidnappers on Wednesday
released businessman Taha Maharmeh, who was recently abducted in Iraq. Maharmeh
arrived in Amman yesterday.
Seven Jordanians kidnapped in July in Iraq have been released over the past two
weeks, among them a businessman who paid a ransom. The others, all truck
drivers, were freed through Iraqi mediators.
The government is still investigating the fate of hostages Mohammad Suleiman and
Wael Abul-Hawaeij, who had been kidnapped in Iraq months ago.