Italian FM says Italian hostages released in Iraq скачать в хорошем качестве

Italian FM says Italian hostages released in Iraq

(8 Jun 2004) 1. Wide shot Palazzo Chigi, Italian government headquarters 2. Italian and EU flags on front of building 3. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Franco Frattini, Italian Foreign Minister "We confirmed a few minutes ago the release of the three Italian hostages. Undersecretary Letta and I received news of the liberation around 2 o'clock, 2.15 Central European Time. The action ended successfully about one and a half hours ago." 4. Wide shot news conference 5. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Franco Frattini, Italian Foreign Minister "We don't think the operation resulted in any bloodshed - our men were certainly not harmed in the operation. The three were liberated along with a Polish businessman who had been held in captivity with them." 6. Journalists 7. SOUNDBITE: (Italian) Franco Frattini, Italian Foreign Minister "We don't know exactly where the hostages were freed, but it was probably around the southern zone of Baghdad, maybe on the outskirts. As a matter of fact today's events are the culmination of a long operation which ended today when the Prime Minister, Undersecretary Letta and myself saw that the time was right, and we had the expected result." 8. End of news conference 9. Exterior Palazzo Chigi STORYLINE: Coalition forces freed Italian and Polish hostages in a military operation south of Baghdad on Tuesday, the top U.S. general in Iraq said. Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said all the hostages were freed from the same location and that there was no reported exchange of fire. Suspects were detained, he said. Commenting in Rome on Tuesday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he did not thing "the operation resulted in any bloodshed". Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi said "this is a happy conclusion" and that the hostages were being transported aboard a helicopter of the coalition forces and would be flown back to Italy on Wednesday. Frattini told reporters: "The operation was born from close cooperation between Italian and coalition forces with detailed intelligence work" by the Italians. The hostages were in Iraq as private security guards and were kidnapped in April. A fourth Italian abducted with them was slain shortly after the kidnapping and his body later returned to Italy. Frattini told state TV that no negotiations were carried out with the kidnappers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...