9/29: Four Women Freed After Italy Pays Ransom
9/16: Naomi Klein Reports: Kidnapping Has Mark of Undercover Operation
9/15: Tens of thousands marched in Italy today to demand the release of the Italian NGO workers and their Iraqi co-workers after their kidnapping last week, and to demand a full withdrawal of Italian forces from the US-led occupation of Iraq. Witnesses said about 20 men with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols fitted with silencers stopped their vehicles on September 7 in broad daylight in a busy commercial area of Baghdad and raided the offices of Un Ponter Per Baghdad (A Bridge to Baghdad), a volunteer association that was established after the end of the 1991 Gulf War to promote humanitarian aid to Iraq and to fight the sanctions imposed by the United States. They took Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both Italians, out by their hair, along with Ra'ad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnoaz Bassam, both Iraqis - the first time a native Iraqi has been kidnapped since the occupation began. Eye-witness accounts stated that the men were dressed professionally and acted with swift efficiency, singling out the women as leaders in the organization. All of the kidnap victims were staunchly and openly anti-war and anti-occupation.
Local groups such as Global Exchange and independent journalists have been working on an appeal for the release of the humanitarian workers.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE APPEAL

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