Upon her return to Italy Simona Torretta said she planned to return to Baghdad. She said “I would do it all over again with all the consequences that carries even though I’m sorry for all the suffering my mother went through and didn’t deserve.”

Democracy Now! interviewed Jeff Guntzel.

Jeff Guntzel, a staff reporter for the National Catholic Reporter. He has been to Iraq 9 times since 1998. For years, he was a co-coordinator of Voices in the Wilderness. He has known Simona Torretta for 5 years.

Listen to the interview visit Democracy Now! Or read the transcript below.

All four of the Bridges to Baghdad colleagues were released today. Following is a brief report with a few details. While the report below mentions only the two Italian women, Reuters has reported that the two Iraqi citizens were also released.

While we are celebrating the safe release of our colleagues, we are also resisting the continued occupation of Iraq–and preparing for the escalation of US military action that is now taking place and will likely intensify after the US elections on November 2.

Sincerely
Voices in the Wilderness

Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) — Two Italian aid workers held hostages in Iraq have been freed and are in good health, Prime Minister Berlusconi said in a televised press conference.

James Glanz/NYT NYT
Friday, September 24, 2004

Collapse of water and sewage systems is believed to be at root of the illness

BAGHDAD A virulent form of hepatitis that is especially lethal for pregnant women has broken out in two of Iraq’s most troubled districts, Iraqi Health Ministry officials said in interviews here this week, and they warned that a collapse of water and sewage systems in the country is probably at the root of the illnesses.

The disease, called Hepatitis E, is caused by a virus that is often spread by sewage-contaminated drinking water.

by Voices in the Wilderness UK

Despite the 26 August ‘peace plan’ ending the siege of Najaf, US forces have continued to kill Iraqis in large numbers elsewhere in Iraq. Meanwhile US Army officials have declared their intention to ‘retake’ Baghdad’s impoverished Sadr City slum and to launch major assaults on cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi within the next four months should other methods of regaining control fail.

THE KILLING CONTINUES: SADR CITY

Two days after the ‘peace plan’ was agreed, on the 28 August, the US fought members of Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia in Baghdad’s Sadr City slum to which hundreds of militiamen had returned from Najaf (Washington Post, 29 August). ‘US soldiers in Humvees drove through the impoverished neighbourhood with loudspeakers, demanding people stay home because coalition forces were “cleaning the area of armed men”‘ (AP, 29 Aug) but with no important religious sites to worry about this was barely news.

On 7 September, following ‘a weeklong calm’ after Moqtada al-Sadr declared a unilateral ceasefire, gun battles broke out in Sadr City ‘leaving at least 40 Iraqis and 1 American soldier dead and 202 people wounded’ (NYT, 8 Sept). Locals claimed that ‘a provocative American patrol .. deep into Sadr City’ had sparked the fighting (Guardian, 8 September). “The Americans tried to arrest some people from the Mahdi army,” Abu Hussein, a 20-year old shop keeper told the Guardian. “They come here, and start randomly arresting and randomly shooting. Then the Mahdi army fires back.”

Update

Please Read and Sign the Appeal and online petition for the Release the Italian and Iraqi Aid Workers Abducted in Baghdad.

For more information regarding the Italian & Iraqi Aid Workers Kidnapped in Iraq please visit freeourfriends.blogspot.com

Dear Friends,

Here on Carmen Avenue, ten of us gathered this morning for a reflection, as we’ve done each day of the fast. It was a tearful time. Cathy Breen and Cynthia Banas recounted their most recent conversations and correspondence with Ra’ad Ali, one of the four Bridges to Baghdad humanitarian workers kidnapped from the group’s Baghdad office yesterday.

Simona Pari with Circus 2 Iraq

We remembered how relieved we felt when we learned that Ra’ad and his family were safe, following the worst of the “Shock and Awe” bombardment. We’ve each quoted him, often, when speaking about Iraq with groups in the U.S. Ra’ad, a University professor and engineer, studies astronomy as an avocation. When the lights went out all across Baghdad, Raad went to his rooftop where he set up a telescope, knowing he could study the stars as never before.

Simona Torretta

Voices has worked with Bridges to Baghdad since we began traveling to Iraq in 1996. They have maintained a steady presence in Iraq, since 1991, and we relied on them for advice and insights whenever our delegations traveled to Iraq. Their vision and witness has provided peace activists worldwide with an inspiration to resist the economic sanctions and each of the wars waged against Iraq.

In 2002, when we were notified of a $20,000 fine imposed on us for bringing medicines to Iraq, we raised $20,000 and contributed it to Bridges to Baghdad’s Sinbad Clinic which they operated in Basra to assist women and children afflicted with water-borne diseases.

We write today, aggrieved and concerned, asking you, urgently, to sign the statement which is attached. Please help circulate this statement widely. Simona Toretta, Simona Pari, Ra’ad Ali Abdulaziz and Mahnaz Bassam have long recognized the grievances of people throughout Iraq who have endured ongoing siege and war. Their work compels us to recognize that no country should ever be held hostage to the greed and dominance of others.

As we yearn for their liberation, we pledge ourselves to work toward a fair and peaceful future for the people they’ve served.

Sincerely,

Kathy Kelly and companions on Carmen Avenue

Update

Sign the online Petition for the Release the Italian and Iraqi Aid Workers Abducted in Baghdad.

For more information regarding the Italian & Iraqi Aid Workers Kidnapped in Iraq please visit freeourfriends.blogspot.com