Friday, October 29, 2004
This is what we are fighting against
source: Ireland OnlineKidnappers holding a seven-year-old Lebanese boy have threatened to behead him if they do not receive £38,000 (€54,592) by Saturday, his father said today.
“We’re a poor family and I love Iraq,” said Abdel-Ghani Hamad. “I’m now selling the stuff in my house just to get by.”
Earlier this month, gunmen abducted his son Mohammed on his way home from school in Diyala province, east of the Iraqi capital, and initially demanded £82,000 (€117,833) for his release, the father said.
Lebanese Foreign Ministry officials have said its embassy in Baghdad was working with Iraqis to secure the boy’s release.
The father said the kidnappers also asked him to sell his belongings and leave Iraq. He refused to say how he learned of their demands, fearing for his son’s life.
He said Mohammed was a smart boy, who loved chess and computers.
The senior Hamad said he has been living in Iraq for 32 years. He owns an orchard and raises chicken, he said, adding his business wasn’t doing well.
“I ask the kind people to call on the kidnappers to release my son,” Hamad said.
