Jill Carroll's Account of Kidnapping in Iraq Appears

By: E&P Staff and The Asscociated Press At one of the most desperate moments of her captivity in Iraq, fearing she was about to be beheaded, reporter Jill Carroll pleaded with one of her captors for a quick death by pistol, saying: "I don't want the knife."

In her first public account of her 82-day hostage ordeal, Carroll said she had feared the worst when her captors said they planned to use her in a second propaganda video. The kidnappers, however, seemed confused when she made her request and said they didn't plan to kill her.

Carroll describes the terror she felt, even at times her captors were civil to her, in the first segment of an 11-part series on the kidnapping. It was published Sunday on the Web site of The Christian Science Monitor, where she is a staff writer.

Also appearing on the Web site were video interviews with Carroll, a podcast, and photo galleries. She also will answer questions from readers around the world. A list of the titles of the next 10 parts of the series are also posted.

Carroll in the first article said within hours of her abduction at gunpoint in Baghdad, she was taken to two homes, dressed in new clothes, fed a chicken and rice meal and invited to watch television with the family of one of her captors.

"They all seemed concerned that I think they were good, or at least that they were treating me well," Carroll wrote.

"It sounds hospitable. But in my mind every second was a test - the choice of food, TV program, everything - and they would kill me if I gave the wrong answer."

The 28-year-old journalist was kidnapped Jan. 7 and her Iraqi interpreter, Alan Enwiya, was shot dead. She was released near a Sunni Arab political party office in Baghdad 82 days later and returned to the United States on April 2.

The Web site also contains video clips of Carroll describing her abduction, detention and survival. It's the first time Carroll, a freelance writer who was hired by the Boston-based newspaper during her captivity, has told her story.

"In the first few minutes after my abduction, my captors peppered me with questions in Arabic," she wrote. "I played dumb, fearful that they would think I understood too much and kill me."

She said her kidnappers, a previously unknown group calling itself the Revenge Brigade, took her to two different homes on the first day, starting with a tiny, three-room house in Baghdad's outskirts.

"It was a poor place, built of cinder blocks. My captors gave me a new set of clothes, and I changed in the bathroom while the stern-faced woman of the house looked on."

At the second home, she was questioned about her job, religion, whether anyone in her family drank alcohol and whether her computer had a device to signal the government or military, she recalled.

"Then in a slightly gravelly voice, the interpreter explained the situation," she said.

Her kidnappers wanted all female detainees in Iraq to be freed, and threatened to kill Carroll if they weren't. U.S. officials did release some women but said the decision was unrelated to the demands.

Carroll said she was offered food and invited to watch television with the family of one of her kidnappers.

"How do you channel surf with the mujahideen? I asked myself that question as I flipped from one show to another, trying to act casual. Politics was out. News was out. Anything that might show even a flash of skin was out. Finally, I found Channel 1 from Dubai, and Oprah was on."

The first two questions from readers posted on the Monitor's site are certainly challenging (she will answer them in the days ahead):

-- "When released from Iraq, you had stated that you had been well-treated by your captors. After your trip to Germany and return to the U.S. you then indicated that you were not treated well. For a seasoned correspondent, which answer was truthful?"

--"Because of your well-known support of everything Muslim, many of your fellow Americans, including myself, believe your capture was not real, but was in fact conducted and staged with your cooperation, and, that you are a traitor to your country as well as to your family and friends. What is your response to those allegations?"

Carroll, a graduate of the University of Massachusetts who grew up in Michigan, was moved at least a dozen times during her captivity, according to an introduction to the series.

She attracted a huge amount of sympathy during her ordeal, and a wide variety of groups in the Middle East, including the Islamic militant group Hamas, appealed for her release.

Last week, the Pentagon announced that U.S. troops had arrested four Iraqi men in connection to her kidnapping.

The Carroll series kicks off with an Intro by the Monitor. It reads:

"Over the next 82 days, she was shuttled blindfolded among at least six safe houses and had closer contact with Sunni insurgents than any American who has lived to tell the tale.

"She cooked with the women. She played with the children. She was locked away in rooms to the sound of cocking guns. Deprived of control over the smallest aspect of existence, she feared for her life every day.

"Her chief captor required his journalist hostage to 'interview' him for hours at a time. He would expound on the insurgent worldview and the ruling council set up by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Ms. Carroll stared at the floor. She was afraid to meet his gaze, lest he decide that she knew too much about his features.

"In her last hours of captivity this man told her: 'Forget about the council. You can only say I am a member of a medium group. You can't talk about the women or the children. You have to say you were in one room the whole time. Everything is forbidden. You must forget it all.'

"She couldn't. This is her story."

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For the special, multimedia Christian Science Monitor report, click here.