BUCHAREST, 24 April 2005 — Some 50 Romanian reporters gathered in Bucharest’s main square yesterday calling for kidnappers to free three colleagues seized in Iraq last month.
Prima TV reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, 32, cameraman Sorin Miscoci, 30, and reporter for Romania Libera daily Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37, were shown in the video sitting on the floor barefoot, apparently handcuffed. Masked men stood by with guns.
The Bucharest protesters stopped short of calling for Romanian troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.
“We will stay here until they are released,” said Prima TV news anchor Cristina Topescu. “I am trying to be optimistic, but I am scared because of those images. However, I keep hoping.”
Romanian President Traian Basescu has faced media criticism over a perceived lack of information on rescue efforts by the presidency, which took over the handling of the crisis.
The presidency said in a statement late on Friday the authorities were in contact with the kidnappers and were doing all they could to secure the safe return of the hostages. It said the videotape showed the three were alive and unharmed.
Romania has 800 troops with the US-led force in Iraq and remains committed despite recent opinion polls showing 55 percent of Romanians want them to come home.
The small Humanist Party, a coalition partner of the ruling centrist alliance and the opposition ultra-nationalist Greater Romania Popular Party are the only ones calling for a pullout.
Media watchdogs condemned the kidnapping.
“By demanding the withdrawal of Romania’s troops from Iraq, kidnappers are once again putting journalists at the centre of an unbearable act of blackmail,” Reporters without Borders said.
Representatives of Romania’s Arab community joined the Bucharest protest, holding banners showing pictures of the three with the word “Freedom” written in Romanian, English and Arabic.
“We are asking for their unconditional release and safe return home,” said Samir Zanun, a Jordanian community leader.
