US hostage freed 10 months on

2005-09-07 21:28

Baghdad - US-led forces on Wednesday freed an American contractor held hostage in Iraq for 10 months and an Iraqi after raiding an isolated farmhouse south of Baghdad on a tip-off from an Iraqi prisoner.

"Coalition forces rescued American Roy Hallums and an Iraqi citizen from captivity in an isolated farm house located 25km south of Baghdad," a US military statement said, adding that Hallums was "in good condition".

For his part, Hallums said in the statement: "To those who continuously tracked my captors and location, and to those who physically brought me freedom today.

"To all of you, I will be forever grateful."

Hallums, 57, is believed to be one of the longest-held foreign hostages in Iraq after being kidnapped at gunpoint from the offices of his employer in a residential district of Baghdad on November 1 last year.

Hallums's ex-wife, Susan, told CNN television she had spoken to her husband and that he would be returning to the United States in the next few days.

"It was very, very early this morning... He called and said... that he was free. That's the best phone call I've ever gotten," she said.

Coalition forces were tipped off about Hallums's location by an Iraqi detainee.

They "immediately planned and executed a raid on the farm house to capitalise on the information before Hallums could be moved," the statement said.

This was only the second time coalition-led forces had freed a foreign hostage in Iraq - in late June, Australian hostage Douglas Wood, a 63-year-old engineering contractor, was freed by Iraqi forces after 47 days in captivity.

A US official told AFP there were four other US nationals currently known to be held captive in Iraq, with four more listed as "unaccounted for".

There are more than 20 other foreign hostages being held in the country.

- AFP