Italian PM: No ransom paid

2004-09-29 08:08

Rome - A relieved Italy broke into celebration after two Italian aid workers kidnapped in Iraq three weeks ago were released and arrived home hours later aboard a private jet.

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, dressed in long white tunics, smiled and held hands at a military airport outside Rome as they were welcomed on Tuesday night by Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who had announced their release earlier in the day. Relatives, friends and colleagues also greeted them.

Asked by reporters how she felt, Pari said, "Good," and smiled.

"It went well. We have been treated with a lot of respect," Torretta told Italian news agencies.

Was a ransom paid?

The two women, both 29, were handed over to the Red Cross along with two Iraqis who were abducted with them in Baghdad on September 7. The four were working for the aid agency Un Ponte Per... (A Bridge To...), and were involved in school and water projects.

Torretta spoke in Arabic, saying, "Thank you very much. Goodbye. Thank you." Pari remained silent.

Back in Italy, the nation celebrated.

Crowds gathered near the women's homes in Italy and broke into applause as relatives waved to the them.

"It's like being born again. It's the light after darkness," Anna Maria Torretta, Simona Torretta's mother, told the AGI news agency near her home in Rome. "I knew Simona would be back. I never stopped hoping."

The mother of the other hostage, Donatella Rossi, smiled and broke into tears as she came out onto the balcony of her house in Rimini, a seaside resort on the Adriatic. The hostage's father, Luciano Pari, said: "I am happy, very happy. I was hopeful, in fact I was sure."

Berlusconi appeared before parliament to give details of the release, with the assembly breaking into applause.

The prime minister thanked the intelligence agencies of Iraq's neighbouring countries, including Jordan, whose king was in Rome on Tuesday. He said the Italian secret services were involved in as many as 16 different negotiations, without elaborating.

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-rai al-Aam had reported that a $1-million ransom had been demanded for the women's release, and that half of that amount had been paid on Monday.

But Berlusconi dismissed the report, according to the AGI news agency, saying, "They have been released only thanks to the humanitarian work of the Red Cross."

Truce may be over

Al-Arabiya TV, citing unnamed sources involved in the negotiations, also said no ransom was paid.

Berlusconi also thanked the opposition for backing the government in its efforts to win the release - a rare show of unity among Italy's traditionally squabbling politicians.

However, an opposition leader indicated the truce may be over, saying that the time had come again to rethink Italy's role in Iraq.

Despite polls showing that most Italians opposed the conflict, Berlusconi has been a strong supporter of the United States-led war.

- AP