Important detail: this article includes the first known mention that the Hostage Working Group was actively looking into von Ackermann's disappearance. An Editor's Note on one version (oddly enough, it's titled Missing in Iraq), states the following:
This story is based on hours of interviews with Roy Hallums, Susan Hallums and Dan O'Shea, and their recollections of Roy Hallums' kidnapping in Iraq.Excerpts below.
Family's nightmare begins at gunpoint Part 1
By Deborah Hastings, AP, Salt Lake Tribune, December 24, 2006, 01:20:45 AM MST
Dan O'Shea had more to worry about than the abduction of Roy Hallums. There was Kirk von Ackermann, an American contractor who went missing near Tikrit on Oct. 9, 2003. There was Timothy Bell, a Halliburton employee who disappeared on April 9, 2004.Kidnapped Americans in Iraq
Hallums was another soul added to the list. At the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, O'Shea worked in secret. The Hostage Working Group, started by the State Department in 2004 to deal with the rash of Iraqi kidnappings, was made up of FBI and CIA agents, hostage negotiators, counterintelligence operators, military analysts and special forces.
They numbered about 30 in all, working telephones and back channels, talking with local imams, police, messaging back and forth with Washington and military intelligence officials of all types.
By Deborah Hastings, AP, Salt Lake Tribune, December 24, 2006, 03:10:26 AM MST
MISSINGClarification for readers: As of August of 2006, Von Ackermann is no longer considered missing but is believed to have been killed on the day he disappeared.
Kirk von Ackermann, 37, of Moss Beach, Calif., vanished Oct. 9, 2003. He was driving alone between Tikrit and Kirkuk. His car was found abandoned.
Part 2 of the above series can be found here:
Rescuing Roy - Tip leads to rescue in Iraq Part 2
By Deborah Hastings, AP, North County Times, December 24, 2006
No comments:
Post a Comment