ROME, 29 September 2004 — Hundreds of people cheered and applauded yesterday outside the home of one of the two Italian aid workers freed in Baghdad, celebrating the release of the women after an anguished three-week wait.
“We’ve spoken to the Baghdad ambassador. The information is 100 percent certain and we are already celebrating,” Annamaria Torretta, the mother of Simona Torretta, said on Italian television.
Her daughter was freed earlier along with Simona Pari after being abducted by militants in Iraq on Sept. 7 from the offices of the non-governmental organization A Bridge to Baghdad.
Ms. Toretta and Simona’s two sisters appeared on the balcony of their apartment in Rome to wave at hundreds of applauding people gathered below. “I’m so happy, overwhelmingly happy,” said Simona Pari’s father, Luciano, from his home in Rimini on the Adriatic coast.
“This was the news I had been hoping for. And I really believe it’s true,” he added.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi confirmed that two women had been released and turned over to the Italian Red Cross, describing it as a “moment of joy”.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi also said the country shared the families’ joy.
But he added: “In this moment of great joy, there is still pain for all those who were killed in a barbaric way. We remain anxious about the other hostages still in the hands of their kidnappers and we renew our appeal: free them.”
Pope John Paul II also expressed his delight at the release of the two women, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. “The pope learned with great joy news of the release of the two Italian volunteers,” he said in a statement.
The plight of the two women had galvanized Italy, which was rocked by the murder death of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in Iraq in August.
Pictures of the two Simonas were hung on Rome’s historic Capitol building, and tens of thousands of Italians had taken part in candle-lit vigils and sent messages of solidarity to their families. Iraqi engineer Ali Raad Ali Abdul Aziz and an Iraqi woman, Manhaz Assam, were also freed yesterday, a spokesman for Berlusconi said.
Meanwhile, leaders of Britain’s Muslim community said yesterday they were hopeful about securing the freedom of a Briton held captive in Iraq, after returning from a two-day mercy mission to Baghdad. “We have had very encouraging advices and promises that we hope, Inshallah (God willing), will lead to the release of Ken (Bigley) and his safe return to his family,” said Daoud Abdullah of the Muslim Council of Britain.
