April 15, 2004

ITALY STANDS TALL

An Italian hostage in Iraq has been murdered. Italy’s troops will remain:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed on Thursday to keep troops in Iraq despite the killing of an Italian hostage in scenes Al Jazeera said were too bloody to screen.

Still no news on the three Japanese hostages, whose expected release was reported earlier this week.

UPDATE. Via Reuters:

Three Japanese hostages held in Iraq have been freed, Arabic television station Al Jazeera reported Thursday.

The channel showed the two men and a crying woman meeting a representative of a group called the Muslim Clerics Association.

Posted by Tim Blair at April 15, 2004 05:30 PM
Comments

It could have been a hoax, which was the rumor. They might be in Jordan. She was anti-war and sent a message to someone about some big event.

And now it seems the families of now-alleged "hostages" answer "no comment" and have stopped calling for Japan to leave Iraq.

Rantburg, IIRC.

Posted by: Sandy P. at April 15, 2004 at 05:32 PM

Looks like these guys finally got the machine working.

Posted by: 2dogs at April 15, 2004 at 08:46 PM

It is a farce to commend any country for not cutting and running after their citizens are killed.

If we didn't really believe deep down that the Europeans are wimps the whole subject of leaving Iraq because of combat deaths or terror murders wouldn't even be considered by the press.

Posted by: Reid of America at April 15, 2004 at 10:29 PM
The channel showed the two men and a crying woman meeting a representative of a group called the Muslim Clerics Association.

That doesn't sound "freed" to me....

Posted by: Pious Agnostic at April 16, 2004 at 12:03 AM

Having just been freed from the Muslim Murderers association.

Posted by: Amos at April 16, 2004 at 12:06 AM

It is a farce to commend any country for not cutting and running after their citizens are killed.

Objectively, maybe so. But keep in mind that Berlusconi is acting against the expressed or implied wishes of many Europeans here, and nothing would be easier for him than to withdraw the troops so he can get a supportive pat on the back by Chirac et al. at the next EU meeting.

Maybe it should go without saying that he ought to act the way he does, but commending the man for actually doing it seems like a small price to pay for reassuring an ally that he has support.

(And I'm saying that as somebody who disagrees with Berlusconi on almost all other parts of his politics.)

Posted by: PW at April 16, 2004 at 02:15 AM

[Stupid and tasteless remarks by a blogroach have been crushed, scraped up, and removed by the Management.]

Posted by: Miranda Divide at April 16, 2004 at 10:18 AM