NEGOTIATING WITH TERRORISTS

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Australia's top Sunni Muslim cleric has appealed to militants to free an Australian hostage they are holding in Iraq and called on US-led coalition forces to release Iraqi detainees from military prisons.

Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali has returned to Iraq to continue his mission to secure the release of 63-year-old Douglas Wood, a California-based Australian engineer.

...The Australian government has refused to bend to terrorists' demands to withdraw its forces to secure Wood's release.

"I appeal to (the kidnappers) to quickly release the sick Australian hostage, Douglas Wood," Alhilali said.

...The cleric issued a parallel plea to US-led coalition forces, calling on them to free Iraqi detainees, including women, from military-controlled prisons and called for occupation forces to leave the country.

"We demand the liberation of our land and we will carry your case to all the international forums and will also support you," said the cleric, who last month offered to swap places with Wood in a bid to force the hand of his abductors.

...Egyptian-born Alhilali has said his Iraqi contacts had urged him to return to Baghdad in preparation for Wood's release, the cleric's spokesman, Keysar Trad, said recently.
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It seems Mr. Wood's captors, the Shura Council of the Mujahedin of Iraq, have Alhilali wrapped around their fingers. The kidnappers, a group aligned with one of the country's most feared terrorists, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, seem to be having so much fun yanking Alhilali around that they don't want to let Mr. Wood go.

Look at how unreliable and dishonest the group has been throughout this ordeal. That's not unexpected, given that it's a bunch of terrorist thugs.

There could be no clearer example of how different this enemy is from our past enemies of wars gone by.

Once again, here's hoping Mr. Wood is released and the nightmare ends very soon.