IRAQ: Kidnapped parliamentarian Tayseer Al- Mashhadani released in Baghdad meets with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Malik

A Sunni Arab lawmaker was released on Saturday (August 26) nearly two months after her kidnapping sparked a political furore in Iraq. State television said after Taiseer Najah al- Mashhadani was released, she met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, who is struggling to deliver on promises of easing sectarian tensions under his national reconciliation drive. "I am joyful and happy because everyone has started to think responsibly and in the best interests of the country and the protection of its citizens. We are moving away from acts which benefit nobody," Al-Maliki said. A member of her Iraqi Islamic Party said Taiseer Najah al-Mashhadani was freed after her captors made contact with Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. Tayseer Al-Mashhadani appeared relaxed and smiling as she sat talking to the Iraqi Prime Minister. "They (my kidnappers) treated me well. I even used to be able to hear television news bulletins concerning efforts to release me," Tayseer Al-Mashhadani said. Her release came as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged hundreds of tribal leaders gathered in Baghdad to unite to end the bitter sectarian bloodshed between Sunnis and Shi'ites that has raised fears of civil war. Mashhadani's abduction prompted the Iraqi Accordance Front, the biggest Sunni bloc, to briefly boycott parliament. Her party is the biggest in the Front. Tayseer Al-Mashhadani said that she was unaware of her kidnappers demands but hoped the lines of communication between them remained open. "I do not know what all their (my kidnappers) demands are. But in a general sense, I was able to give them my website address and they gave me theirs. The door is now open for the exchange of ideas so that we can hopefully integrate them into the political process." Gunmen seized her and seven guards in a mainly Shi'ite district of Baghdad on July 1. Some Sunni leaders blamed the kidnapping on Shi'ite militias, whom they also accuse of death squad killings, a charge the militias deny.

ITN Source | August 27, 2006

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