Iraqi officials say 3 Americans abducted in Baghdad are free
Published 10:09 am Tuesday, February 16, 2016
BAGHDAD — The three Americans who were abducted in Baghdad last month have been freed and handed over to the U.S. Embassy, Iraqi officials told the Associated Press Tuesday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the press, said all three were in good health.
The U.S. embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. In January, it confirmed that several Americans had gone missing. Iraqi authorities said the three were kidnapped from a “suspicious apartment.”
Iraqi and Western officials said they suspected one of two powerful Shiite militias was behind the kidnapping.
The Americans were abducted in Dora, a mixed neighborhood that is home to both Shiites and Sunnis. It was the latest in a series of brazen high-profile kidnappings undermining confidence in the Iraqi government’s ability to control state-sanctioned Shiite militias, which have grown in strength as Iraqi security forces battle the Islamic State group.