ROMANIA: ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES SYRIAN BUSINESSMAN OF ORGANISING KIDNAPPING OF REPORTERS

Record ID: 276791

  • Title: ROMANIA: ROMANIAN PRESIDENT ACCUSES SYRIAN BUSINESSMAN OF ORGANISING KIDNAPPING OF REPORTERS
  • Date: 6th June 2005
  • Summary: (BN15) BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (JUNE 6, 2005)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV TRAIAN BASESCU, PRESIDENT OF ROMANIA, STANDING AT PODIUM 0.05 2. MCU (Romanian) TRAIAN BASESCU, PRESIDENT OF ROMANIA, SAYING: " Yes, Omar Hayssam and Mohamed Munaf are involved. Omar Hayssam initiated the kidnapping and Mohamed Munaf executed it in Baghdad." 0.29 3. SV ME
  • Embargoed: 21st June 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
  • Country: Romania
  • Reuters ID: LVA81T7DE8DSNHF8C4WWP32RSQ64
  • Story Text: Romanian president accuses Syrian businessman of
    organising kidnapping of reporters.



    Three Romanian reporters held hostage in Iraq for 55
    days were victims of a plot by a Syrian businessman to have
    them kidnapped so he could free them and escape
    prosecution, Romania's president said on Monday.

    President Traian Basescu denied press reports the three
    reporters may have also been in cahoots with their captors.

    "Please stop creating scenarios. They were really
    kidnapped," he said. "This doesn't mean they didn't make
    mistakes, ignoring elementary rules ... They put the
    Romanian state in difficulty because of their
    thoughtlessness."
    The Romanian press held protest marches demanding the
    release of Prima TV reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, 32,
    cameraman Sorin Miscoci, 30, and Romania Libera journalist
    Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37, who were kidnapped in Baghdad on
    March 28.

    But sympathy turned to hostility after their return to
    Romania on May 23, when they failed to clarify their
    connection with the Arab businessmen who paid for their
    trip and was then charged with orchestrating their
    abduction.

    Romanian prosecutors have charged Romanian-Syrian Omar
    Hayssam, along with the journalists' guide in Iraq, Mohamad
    Munaf, for staging the kidnapping to help Hayssam avoid
    charges of organised crime and financial wrongdoing.

    Munaf, who has Iraqi and U.S. citizenship, was detained
    by U.S. forces in Baghdad.

    Basescu said Hayssam initiated the kidnapping and
    Munaf, his business partner, executed it with the purpose
    of allowing Hayssam to appear as a rescuer and flee Romania
    despite a ban pending a criminal investigation.

    "Omar Hayssam just wanted to leave Romania and never
    come back," Basescu said.

    But his plan went wrong and the hostages ended up in
    the hands of a more militant group, which threatened to
    kill them unless Romania pulled out its 800 troops from
    Iraq, he added.

    Romanian authorities tried to extract the hostages
    repeatedly before finally succeeding in a "peaceful but
    dangerous operation", Basescu said without elaborating.



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