Murky information so far but all the same great news about the release of a previously unknown American hostage.
Press reports identify him so far as Randy or Rand Michael Hultz, abducted in Iraq on June 18, 2011, released to the UN in Iraq and has arrived at the US Embassy in Iraq. Brief mention in the following article of possibly two more unknown American hostages.
U.S. man released to U.N. after being held in Iraq
Detroit Free Press, March 17, 2012
Sadrist officials said Hultz was taken into the Green Zone immediately after the press conference and turned over to the United Nations mission in Iraq. U.N. spokeswoman Radhia Achouri confirmed that the man was at the mission's compound Saturday night while the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad tried to verify his identity.At one point, there was a vague reference in a news report of an abduction in the summer of 2008 but no further information was ever released. Perhaps this is related.
He was transferred to the U.S. Embassy late Saturday, spokesman Michael McClellan said.
Even Iraqi security forces were taken aback at the announcement. A senior Iraqi security official said intelligence indicated that the Promised Day Brigade had captured an American, but did not have enough reliable information to confirm it.
The official said two other Americans who worked as contractors for security firms still are being held by militants. He did not elaborate, and spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Also see:
Militants Free American No One Knew Was Missing
By Jack Healy, New York Times, March 17, 2012
Americans Missing in Iraq - chart is updated as new information becomes available
This guy has been on the run for years he stole a lot of money from contractors and US Soldiers wile working for KBR security in 2005 saying he was investing it in Iraq Dinar and the Iraq Stock Market but disappeared around 3yrs ago. Looks to me like he's trying to stop running and came up with this kidnapping story. I know its true because I one of the people that he ripped off.
ReplyDeleteI have no way of know if what you say is true or not. I personally do not know Rand Hultz. However, because this case is so strange - I will let your comment stand. It's up to someone else to do due diligence to decide if its true or not.
ReplyDeleteI honestly do not know what to think. I've been following news reports of American hostages in Iraq for a number of years now. And this is by far the strangest case I've come across.
That his own family did not know he was missing...I just don't know what to make of that.