Jordan Times
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Kidnappers reduce Ezza's
ransom
AMMAN (AP) — The kidnappers of a Jordanian hostage in Iraq reduced by 80 per
cent his ransom and extended a deadline for their killing threat, his wife said
Monday.
Hisham Ezza's wife, Hikmat, said she received a telephone call from her husband
on Sunday, saying he was in “good health.”
“Suddenly, one of the kidnappers interrupted our conversation to say that they
had reduced the ransom from $500,000 to $100,000,” she said in a telephone
interview.
The kidnapper, who had an Iraqi accent, “threatened that if the money wasn't
paid, my husband would be killed by Thursday.” “We're trying to collect the
money,” she added.
She said her husband, an accountant for a transport company, said the ransom was
reduced because he had “pleaded for mercy and told the kidnappers that he had a
family to take care of, that he was raising seven children.”
More than 150 foreigners, including several Jordanians, have been kidnapped in
Iraq since the war last year. Some kidnapping groups seek ransom, while others
pursue political motives, such as driving foreign forces or companies out of
Iraq.