Baghdad Reporters Cheer Carroll Release, But Questions Remain

By: Joe Strupp The Thursday release of kidnapped reporter Jill Carroll in Baghdad brought joy and relief to her fellow journalists, as well as friends and family. But it also raised a new round of questions about why she was taken, what brought about her apparent safe release, and who led the negotiations.

Officials at the Christian Science Monitor, where Carroll worked as a freelancer in Baghdad, offered few specifics on the process that led to her release. "We are trying to gather what we can for our paper," David Cook, Monitor Washington bureau chief and lead spokesman on the Carroll story for the daily, told E&P. "I am trying to be very careful."

Initial demands from the abductors, who kidnapped Carroll on Jan. 7, asked for the release of all Iraqi women prisoners in Baghdad. But new speculation arose today that money might have been the initial demand, although not necessarily met. Cook would not comment, and other reporters in Baghdad said only that such speculation had been growing.

"There are indications that [the demand] was for money, but we don't know if any changed hands," said Steve Butler, Knight Ridder foreign editor who had been in touch with his reporters in Baghdad today. He said learning too much about what occurred behind the scenes could be harmful. "These things are sometimes better left unresolved," he added. "It could harm the next one or close off options in the future if too much is known."

But Richard Bergenheim, the editor of The Monitor, told The New York Times that there had been "absolutely no negotiations for her release" and there had never been any contact with her captors. And American Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said no ransom was paid--by the American Embassy--to free Carroll.

Carroll, 28, was reportedly dropped off by "unknown persons" at the Baghdad office of the Iraqi Islamic Party, where she eventually gave a brief interview to a local TV outlet. One of her first calls was to a Washington Post reporter she knew well, the Post said. Several sources said she spent an extensive amount of time with Washington Post reporters in Baghdad after her release, possibly even visiting their house/office bureau.

The Post posted a story on its Web site with comments by Carroll, but no indication as to whether she had been with reporters or in their bureau. Jon Finer, a Post reporter in Baghdad, declined to comment on whether Carroll had been with him or his colleagues, saying only "we are not with Jill now. I am not going to be saying much more about this," he added. "We may be saying more on our Web site."

Post foreign editors in Washington could not be reached for comment. An assistant on the foreign desk declined to comment when asked if Carroll had been with the newspaper's Baghdad bureau.

Baghdad-based reporters, some of whom were involved in searching for Carroll during the first days following her kidnapping, were ecstatic over word of her safety. "People are elated, you don't get a lot of good news in Baghdad," said Finer, the Post reporter who has been stationed in the city since last May. "It is jubilation, but it is also a news story we have to cover."

Finer said reporters, after an initial burst of personal involvement, had not been extensively searching for Carroll in recent weeks, but had kept tabs on efforts to find her. "It wasn't like everyone played detective," he said.

Nancy Youssef, who is working out of Knight Ridder's Baghdad office, offered similar reaction. "Everyone is just really overjoyed," she said. "We heard about it around 2 p.m., one of my colleagues told me."

Both reporters said Carroll's abduction had been hanging over the entire Baghdad reporting crew since the day she was taken. "It has been on everyone's mind," Youssef said. She said specifics about what led to her release remained unclear, although she believed both U.S. State Department officials and Iraqi police were involved in the search. Carroll has even said she did not know where she was held.

Cook of the Monitor said he first got word of Carroll's release when her father, Jim Carroll, phoned him on his cell phone at about 6:10 a.m. Thursday as he drove to his D.C. office. "When I saw Jim Carroll's phone number flashing on my cell phone, release was not the first thing I thought of," Cook said. "He had talked to her and was just letting me know. Then my cell phone began going off with other calls."