Lebanese hostage Mohammed Raad was freed by his Iraqi captors and is in the Lebanese Embassy in Baghdad, Lebanese Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Jean Obeid spoke to Raad at the embassy by telephone and congratulated him on his release, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The former hostage's condition was good and he would travel later to Lebanon, they added. On Tuesday, an Iraqi group said it was freeing Raad, who was kidnapped Aug. 2. In a video aired Tuesday on the al-Arabiya satellite channel, masked gunmen said they were releasing him after an appeal by The Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni Muslim group in Iraq. In the al-Arabiya video, a black banner read, "Islamic Movement for Iraq's Mujahedeen" behind the gunmen. It showed a man, identified as Raad, looking down and holding what appeared to be his passport. On Aug. 17, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation television station aired a video by the same group, alleging Raad worked for the Lebanon-based Dalal Engineering Company and demanding it end its activities in Iraq and its alleged cooperation with U.S. forces. The captors threatened to kill Raad, 27, if their demands were not met within three days.
