Hostage freed south of Falluja

ANBAR / IraqiNews.com: Policemen on Thursday freed a man taken hostage a few hours after he had been kidnapped by a group of four persons arrested during the operation, a security source from the Falluja police said. “The man, who was reportedly kidnapped in al-Khalidiya district, south of Falluja city, was freed by the police six hours after his kidnapping and all four kidnappers were arrested,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The father of the kidnapped man is one of the prominent tribal chiefs in Falluja. In initial investigations with the culprits, they confessed that they were planning to kidnp the man and ask his family for a ransom,” the source added. “Light weapons – two Kalashnikov assault rifles and two guns – were seized in the kidnappers’ possession,” he said, noting the kidnappers were referred to the prosecution in Falluja. Falluja, the largest city in the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar, lies 45 km west of Baghdad. AmR (P) 1