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Kidnapped US reporter appeals for help
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-10 08:42
Kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a video aired Thursday
on a private Kuwaiti TV station, appealing in a calm, composed voice for her
supporters to do whatever it takes to win her release "as quickly as possible."
Carroll, wearing traditional Arab attire, said the date was Feb. 2, nearly a
month after she was seized in Baghdad by armed men who killed her Iraqi
translator. She was shown sitting on a chair in front of a wall with a large
floral design.
The 28-year-old freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor said she
had sent one letter and was sending another to "prove I am with the mujahedeen."
"I sent you a letter written by my hand, but you wanted more evidence," she
said. "I am here. I am fine. Please just do whatever they want, give them
whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time. Please do
it fast. That's all."
The 22-second video was carried by Al Rai TV, a private Kuwaiti channel, and
included audio, unlike two previous videos of Carroll that were broadcast by
Al-Jazeera television.
The tape was delivered earlier Thursday to Al Rai's Baghdad office and was
aired in its entirety, Hani al-Srougi, an editor at the station's headquarters
in Kuwait, told The Associated Press. It was accompanied by a letter written by
Carroll.
This is an image
from TV showing kidnapped U.S. journalist Jill Carroll, appearing on a
video aired in Kuwait Thursday, Feb. 9 2006, asking people to do whatever
her Iraqi kidnappers want to get her
released.[AP] | The newscaster said on the air
that the station would hand the letter over to authorities, but would not
disclose the letter's content.
Tania Anderson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, said: "I assume
that Al Rai has given the material they received to the Kuwaiti authorities, who
I am confident will take the appropriate action at the earliest possible time.
The embassy customarily works closely with our contacts with the Kuwaiti
government and will seek their cooperation on this matter as well."
The Christian Science Monitor said it was seeking more information about the
letter.
"It is always difficult to see someone speaking under coercion and under
these circumstances," the Monitor's editor, Richard Bergenheim, said in a
statement. "We remain in constant contact with Jill's family and are still doing
everything possible to obtain Jill's release."
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