| Wonder how much the ransom was? |
A diplomat of the United Arab Emirates who was kidnapped several days was set free and was reported en route home, a security source said on Friday. - The source told KUNA that the diplomat, Naji Al-Nuaimi, was freed, three days after being taken hostage, adding that he departed Baghdad International Airport aboard a plane flying to the UAE.Gunmen of a shadowy group, calling themselves "the flag of Islam," had taken the diplomatic representative at the UAE embassy as hostage while he was visiting the UAE cultural attache at his office in the district of Al-Mansour in the capital. Iraqi Minister of National Security Abdel Karim Al-Enezi had declared that the security authorities "obtained information that would facilitate the release of the UAE diplomat," and the government security forces exerted intensive efforts to track down the hideout where he was being held.
UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al-Nuhyan had told his Iraqi counterpart, Hushyar Zebari, that the abduction of the diplomat would not deter Abu Dhabi from pursuing support for the Iraqi people, and the latter stated that the government had taken all necessary procedures and measures to secure safe release of the diplomat. The Iraqi Government has also rallied support of influential political and religious organizations and groups to help in this "noble mission," he said. The local supreme religious Sunnite Muslim authority had also appealed to the abductors to let him go.