Romanian captives return from Iraq
BUCHAREST, Romania -- Three Romanian journalists who were hostage in Iraq for nearly two months have arrived home aboard a military plane, a day after their release.
Journalists Marie Jeanne Ion, 32; Sorin Miscoci, 30; Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37; and Iraqi-American translator Mohamad Munafhad were kidnapped March 28.
The plane carrying the former hostages from Baghdad landed Monday afternoon at an airbase near Bucharest sealed off by special forces. The three were then greeted by Romania's President Traian Basescu and hundreds of journalists and friends.
While they were being held hostage, the journalists had been shown on a video broadcast on Arabic-language satellite news channel Al-Jazeera.
In the video, the journalists had appealed to the Romanian government to pull its 800 U.S.-allied troops from Iraq, to ensure their release. Details were unavailable about how the four were freed.
After their abduction, a Romanian official said it was the first time Romanian civilians had been kidnapped in Iraq.
Petre Mihai Bacanu, managing director of the newspaper that employs Ohanesian, told The Associated Press: "It's over. The nightmare has ended."
Ion's father, Romanian Sen. Vasile Ion, described his feeling after hearing news of his daughter's release. "I feel like a piece of me that was missing has now been restored," he told radio Europa FM. "I never lost hope."
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
