Iraqi militants who kidnapped an Australian reporter in Baghdad and threatened to kill him Googled his name on the Internet to investigate his work before deciding to release him unharmed, the journalist's executive producer said yesterday.
John Martinkus, the first Australian confirmed as having been abducted in Iraq, was seized in Baghdad early Saturday and held for about 24 hours before being freed.
Returning home yesterday, Martinkus demanded an apology from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who had said the journalist was abducted when he went to a Baghdad neighbourhood that he was warned not to visit. "He was advised not to go, but he went there anyway," Downer told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"Alexander Downer doesn't know his geography very well,'' Martinkus told reporters after arriving at Sydney's airport. "I was actually across the road from the Australian embassy when I was kidnapped. He should apologize to me, actually รข€” personally.''
... He told Australian Broadcasting Corp. from Jordan he was snatched at gunpoint by Sunni Muslim insurgents.
"I can't say very much but ... of course they said they were going to kill me," Martinkus said, adding he was treated well once he told his kidnappers he was an independent reporter not linked to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
Toronto Star articleJohn Martinkus, the first Australian confirmed as having been abducted in Iraq, was seized in Baghdad early Saturday and held for about 24 hours before being freed.
Returning home yesterday, Martinkus demanded an apology from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who had said the journalist was abducted when he went to a Baghdad neighbourhood that he was warned not to visit. "He was advised not to go, but he went there anyway," Downer told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
"Alexander Downer doesn't know his geography very well,'' Martinkus told reporters after arriving at Sydney's airport. "I was actually across the road from the Australian embassy when I was kidnapped. He should apologize to me, actually รข€” personally.''
... He told Australian Broadcasting Corp. from Jordan he was snatched at gunpoint by Sunni Muslim insurgents.
"I can't say very much but ... of course they said they were going to kill me," Martinkus said, adding he was treated well once he told his kidnappers he was an independent reporter not linked to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
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