Hostage girl escapes captivity in Karbala

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: A girl kidnapped by unidentified men in Babel province managed to escape and turn herself in to the security authorities in Karbala, an official security source said on Sunday. “A 15-year-old girl taken hostage by unidentified gunmen in Babel freed herself and resorted to the police in Karbala,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The girl is a local resident of the Hittin compound in al-Iskandariya, (50 km) north of Karbala, and said two men had kidnapped her on Saturday,” the source said. “She said that she was not subjected to any physical assault,” he added. The holy Shiite city of Karbala lies 110 km southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P)/SR 1