In Search of the Human Spirit

Hostage, Jill Carroll, was released by her captors today. Carroll had been held captived for three months.

Carroll was working as a freelance writer for the Christian Science Monitor and was working in Iraq. She was kidnapped January 7th in Baghdad. She was working on a piece which involved interviewing a Sunni Arab Politician. Her party was attacked before arriving at the politician’s offices. Her translator was killed during the attack.

Her kidnappers called themselves the Revenge Brigade. They demanded the release of all female prisoners before releasing Carroll. Deadlines came and went. As the days wore on, concern for Carroll’s safety grew. There was little belief that she was still alive despite the fact that there was no evidence she had been killed. Her family had made many pleas internationally for her release. Her sister appeared on Arab TV just last week to plead for her life.

Carroll claims that her captors never harmed her or treated her poorly. In an interview, she commented that she did not know why her captors let her go. Her family was elated when they received her phone call.