BAGHDAD — It had to be done quickly. Rogue Shiite militiamen were holding hostage a group of Sunni and Shiite tribal sheiks who had joined a revolt against al-Qaeda. For the Iraqi government and its U.S. backers, the seven men represented a rare symbol of national unity.
A daring rescue operation secured their freedom.
A meeting Tuesday between most of the former captives and military officials – including the Iraqi commander of the rescue operation – offered the first detailed picture of the tense and fast-moving events: the kidnapping, the slaying of one captive and the seven-hour rescue mission Monday converging on an area that was “not fit for rats.”
The sheiks said they were tortured and humiliated. At least three of the sheiks were visibly bruised. One man’s left eye was red and swollen. The two others had bruises on their backs, arms and legs.
But they insisted that they emerged from captivity more determined than ever to continue their fight.
“We already forgot the pain and the wounds from our ordeal,” said Haroon al-Mohammedawi, the bearded leader of the group from Khalis, a region in Diyala province where al-Qaeda has a heavy presence.
“We pledge to you, the people and leadership of Iraq, that we will stay the course.”
Al-Qaeda militants, the sheiks told Iraqi and U.S. commanders, had prevented food rations from reaching them for a year, cut off power supply to their villages and ruined their orchards.
The kidnapping came shortly after the sheiks attended a meeting Sunday with officials in Baghdad about battling al-Qaeda and fostering peace between Shiites and Sunnis. Original reports had said 10 people were seized.
The sheiks were traveling back to their homes in Diyala when the attackers intercepted their minibus. One of the seven resisted; he was shot and killed.
The swift action to rescue the sheiks, launched by about 200 Iraqi soldiers and backed by the U.S. military, reflected the strategic importance of local reconciliation initiatives.
Failure to free them would have dealt a blow to efforts to rally residents of Diyala, a mix of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, behind the U.S. and Iraqi forces in the fight against al-Qaeda.
The seven-hour rescue mission began Monday afternoon and ended well into the night.
Maj. Gen. Riyadh al-Qusaibi said he and his men combed orchards and raided homes in a wide area to the northeast of Baghdad before they found the house where the sheiks were held prisoner, he said.
“The area where the house was is not fit for rats to live in,” al-Qusaibi said. “The kidnappers’ response to our arrival was slow, and the gunfight lasted only minutes.”
Four of the kidnappers were killed in the gunfight and six were detained, according to the Iraqi Defense Ministry. U.S. military officials, however, said the number of suspected kidnappers detained was much larger.
