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Kidnapped Iranian diplomat freed
A kidnapped Iranian diplomat was released Monday after nearly two months in captivity, the Iranian Embassy said. Meanwhile, Jordan's King Abdullah II said he believes two abducted Italian aid workers are still alive despite claims they had been killed.
Faridoun Jihani, the Iranian consul in Karbala, spent 57 days in captivity after he was seized by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, which accused Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs.
Jihani was released and arrived at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad Monday afternoon, said Abbas Attar, director of the Iranian ambassador's office in Baghdad. Another embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jihani was in good health and was recovering at the embassy.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that the diplomat was released after persistent diplomatic efforts and cooperation of Iraqi officials.
Jihani was abducted in early August while traveling between Baghdad and Karbala.
The Islamic Army in Iraq, which claimed to be holding him in a video released Aug. 7, has also claimed to be holding two French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who disappeared Aug. 20 during a trip to the southern Iraqi city of Najaf. The group demanded that France revoke a new law banning Islamic head scarves from state schools. The law went into effect as planned, and there has been no word since on the two French.
Jihani's kidnappers accused him of provoking sectarian war in Iraq and warned Iran not to interfere in Iraq's affairs. Iran, a Shiite Muslim country with close ties to Iraq's majority Shiite population, is suspected of using money to influence the political field in Iraq.
Iranian Embassy officials gave no further details about Jihani's time in captivity. "We haven't had a chance to speak to him about it," said the embassy official who declined to be named. "Let him rest a little and we can answer all your questions."
More than 140 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq — some by anti-U.S. insurgents and others by criminals seeking ransom. At least 26 have been killed, including two American civil engineers, who were beheaded last week by a separate militant group.
Jordan's monarch was heading to Rome for talks on Tuesday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi about efforts to win the freedom of Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, two aid workers kidnapped in Baghdad on Sept. 7
"The information that I have, at this moment, is that both the hostages are alive," Abdullah was quoted as saying in an interview with the daily Corriere della Sera.
"With the help of intelligence, we are trying to trying to locate them, and we are using all our contacts with leaders and groups within Iraq to obtain their release," he said.
The two women, both 29, were working for the aid agency "Un Ponte Per ..." ("A Bridge To...") and were involved in school and water projects in Iraq.
Last week, two militant groups claimed to have killed the two women, but the Italian government said the claims were unreliable. The two groups were the same that claimed to have kidnapped them. One group demanded that women held in Iraqi prisons be released and the other that Italy withdraw its troops from Iraq.
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