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Iraq

Journalist held hostage pleads for help, warns time 'is very short'

BAGHDAD - Kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a video aired Thursday on a private Kuwaiti TV station, appealing in a calm, composed voice for her supporters to do whatever it takes to win her release "as quickly as possible."

Carroll, wearing traditional Arab attire, said the date was Feb. 2, nearly a month after she was seized in Baghdad by armed men who killed her Iraqi translator. She was shown sitting on a chair in front of a wall with a large floral design.

The 28-year-old freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor said she had sent one letter and was sending another to "prove I am with the mujahedeen."

"I sent you a letter written by my hand, but you wanted more evidence," she said. "I am here. I am fine. Please just do whatever they want, give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time. Please do it fast. That's all."

The 22-second video was carried by Al Rai TV, a private Kuwaiti channel, and included audio, unlike two previous videos of Carroll that were broadcast by Al-Jazeera television.

After Thursday's broadcast, Carroll's family issued a brief statement through the Christian Science Monitor, saying only that "the family is hopeful and grateful to all those working on Jill's behalf."

Al Rai's newscaster said on air that the station would hand the letter to authorities. The station refused to disclose the letter's contents.

IRAQIS OBSERVE ASHURA: More than 1-million Iraqi Shiites marched and beat themselves Thursday in blood-soaked processions through the city of Karbala and other Shiite centers around the country to mourn the seventh century death of their revered martyr, Imam Hussein.

Swept by a thick yellow sandstorm, mass processions choked Karbala's wide streets as more than 8,000 security forces and additional militiamen prevented terrorist attacks that have rocked Ashura ceremonies over the past two years, killing more than 230 people.

Karbala police chief Brig. Razzaq Abid Ali al-Taei said up to 2-million people either marched in drum-banging and flag-waving parades or watched as the teeming crowd moved by.

Al-Taei said the ceremony ended with no security violations, except for one rocket launched from an area west of Karbala that fell in a field 6 miles away. "No one was hurt and some Iraqi suspects were arrested," he said.

Hussein, the grandson of Islam's prophet Mohammed, was massacred along with about 70 followers by an army of Umayyads, their rivals for leadership of the Muslim community, during a battle in Karbala in 680. Hussein's death cemented the split in Islam between Shiites and Sunni Muslims.

[Last modified February 10, 2006, 01:12:16]