THE kidnappers of Jill Carroll, the American journalist seized in Baghdad, threatened last night to kill her within 72 hours unless the US freed all Iraqi women prisoners.
The Arab television channel al-Jazeera aired a video showing a pale Ms Carroll speaking to the camera without broadcasting her voice. A logo identified the kidnappers as “The Revenge Brigade” — a previously unknown group.
Ms Carroll, 28, a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped on January 7 in a predominately Sunni district of the capital. She was on her way to interview Adnan al- Dulaimi, a Sunni leader. The gunmen killed her interpreter.
Her driver, who escaped, said of the attack: “One guy attracted my attention. He jumped in front of me screaming, ‘Stop, stop, stop’ with his left hand up and a pistol in his right hand.”
“They didn’t give me any time to even put the car in neutral,” he added. “The whole operation took no more than a quarter of a minute. It was very highly organised. It was a set-up, a perfect ambush.”
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Ms Carroll was taken hostage about 300 metres from Mr al-Dulaimi’s office, where she had planned to interview the politician. He was not there, however, and she and her interpreter left after 25 minutes.
US forces hunting for her abductors raided a mosque in western Baghdad last week after a tip-off that “activities relating to the kidnapping were taking place inside”. Sunni clerics protested angrily.