Excellent news and I am glad this ended well for the family and Issa. –Matt
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Family rejoices at release of contractor in Iraq
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
March 28, 2010
SAN DIEGO — The family of an Iraqi-American contractor said to have been kidnapped in Baghdad in January rejoiced Saturday over his release, saying they did not believe they would see him alive again.
Issa Salomi, 60, spoke with his 27-year-old son Roger Friday and told him that memories of the birth of the oldest of his four boys sustained him during captivity, said Vivian Tilley, a niece.
A few hours later, Salomi called his wife of 30 years, Muna Salomi, and asked for her homemade tabbouleh when he arrived home.
“I was screaming,” Muna Salomi said in interview Saturday. “Really, I didn’t think he’d be alive … I can’t wait to hug him and put him in my arms.”
A Shiite extremist group claimed responsibility for the Jan. 23 kidnapping and posted a video online that showed a man wearing military fatigues, reading a list demands for the release of militants, the prosecution of Blackwater guards and an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal.
A Pentagon statement Saturday said only that Salomi was back under military control, but gave no details on his disappearance or return. The statement said the circumstances of the case are under investigation.
Muna Salomi was told to be prepared to reunite with her husband within the next week at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. She, like other family members, said she didn’t know the circumstances of his abduction, captivity or release.
