Hostage calls to say he's all right (Aussie calls cleric)

[Barrett808]

Hostage calls to say he's all right
By Paul McGeough Chief Herald Correspondent in Baghdad
May 19, 2005

Hopes for the release of Douglas Wood soared yesterday after the hostage was allowed to make a phone call in which he assured the Australian cleric Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly he was alive and well.

"I'm all right," said the hostage of 20 days, before repeating the Arabic term for thank you: "Shukran, shukran."

This dramatic end to a cruel 11-day silence on the fate of Mr Wood came late on Tuesday, when a stranger approached the mufti in the lobby of the Babylon Hotel. Proffering a mobile phone, he said: "There's a call for you."

Claiming he was certain that the Australian accent he heard was that of Mr Wood, Sheik Hilaly said: "One of the people who say they are holding him told me they would put Douglas Wood on the line - that is all he was allowed to say."

(more)

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Hostage-calls-to-say-hes-all-right/2005/05/19/1116361618918.html?oneclick=true