Arrests made in Carroll kidnapping

Four suspects were arrested in Iraq for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Christian Science Monitor journalist Jill Carroll, the US military said.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the four, who were not identified, were arrested in Anbar province west of Baghdad. Another US official, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, said the arrests were made about a month ago.

General Caldwell said Ms. Carroll, who works for this newspaper, was held at three locations, including one about seven miles west of Fallujah, before she was freed March 30.

Carroll was kidnapped Jan. 7 in west Baghdad and her Iraqi interpreter was shot dead. She was released near a Sunni Arab political party office in Baghdad and returned to the United States on April 2.

The breakthrough came after a lieutenant from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force identified a house from intelligence reports and photographs that he had seen earlier. "Sound intelligence was paramount here," Caldwell said.

The lieutenant and others in his unit knocked on the door of the house, asked the owner's permission to look around, and saw "very distinct features" that led them to believe it was probably one of the places Carroll had been held, Caldwell said.

The home's owner was detained. "After questioning that suspect, marines identified additional locations where Jill Carroll was believed to have been held," Caldwell said.

Marines from the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, went to a second location and arrested one person, Caldwell said. Three others were arrested at yet another place north of Abu Ghraib in a raid by the US Army's 4th Infantry Division and two hostages were freed.

Caldwell showed a video and photographs taken by the Marines of one the homes where Carroll was believed to have been held. The house had a green gate and floral designs on its green door, while one of the rooms shown inside had little furniture besides a TV, a bed, an electric fan, and a water cooler.

Four of the detainees were arrested for alleged involvement in the kidnapping. The role of the fifth suspect was unclear. "US and Iraqi authorities are currently discussing prosecutorial options and will make the determination shortly," Caldwell said.

In Boston, the Monitor's editor Richard Bergenheim said, "Jill Carroll and her Monitor colleagues are very grateful for all of the efforts the US government made to secure Jill's freedom after she was held against her will for 82 days." In his statement, Mr. Bergenheim added, "Like reporters everywhere, we are reassured to hear that several of those who held Jill have been apprehended. The daily threat of kidnapping in Iraq remains acute for all. Everything possible needs to be done to relieve Iraqis and others of this scourge."

Bergenheim said that Carroll's story will be published in the Monitor beginning Monday, Aug. 14, and on its website, csmonitor.com, beginning Sunday evening, Aug. 13.

The kidnappers, a formerly unknown group calling themselves the Revenge Brigade, had demanded the release of all female detainees in Iraq, saying Carroll would be killed otherwise. US officials did release some female detainees but said the decision was unrelated to the demands.