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Polish hostage in Iraq appeals for life
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-31 09:26
Iraqi-Polish hostage Teresa Borcz Khalifa appealed to her
government on a video aired on Saturday, saying her life depended on the
withdrawal of Polish forces from Iraq as demanded by her Iraqi captors.
Teresa Borcz-Khalifa, left, who holds dual Polish-Iraqi
citizenship, is shown with her Iraqi husband in a 1978 wedding picture.
Borcz-Khalifa was kidnapped in Iraq by a group calling itself the Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq Fundamentalist Brigades and a video of her flanked by masked
captors was broadcast Thursday, Oct. 28, 2004 on al-Jazeera television.
Poland's president said Friday that his country is prepared to communicate
with Borcz-Khalifa's abductors in Iraq as it tries to secure her release,
but he insisted that Warsaw would not negotiate with terrorists.
Borcz-Khalifa is a convert to Islam who has lived in Iraq for about 30
years. [AP Photo] |
"I am asking for help ... from Poland and the Polish people and whoever can
help me," Al Jazeera television quoted her as saying in the video which showed
her sitting under the black banner the militant Islamic group, Abu Bakr
al-Seddiq Salafist Brigades, that kidnapped her last week.
The Polish government has said it would not negotiate with "terrorists."
"I am asking anyone who can help to get out of this situation to
act...because as a Polish citizen, in a way, I have some responsibility for the
presence of Polish troops on Iraqi soil," she said in remarks translated into
Arabic.
"Help save my life...My life is in great danger and the only thing that would
save me is to accept the demands of the Iraqis to withdraw Polish forces from
Iraq and then give any possible help toward freeing Iraqi women prisoners held
in various American prisons," she said.
Borcz Khalifa is married to an Iraqi and also holds Iraqi nationality. She
was kidnapped on Wednesday in Baghdad, where she has lived for many years.
Poland, seen by the United States as a key ally, has 2,500 soldiers in the
south-central Iraq and commands a multinational division of 8,000 troops.
Public opinion in Poland heavily opposes the presence of Polish troops in
Iraq. Warsaw plans to start scaling back its forces after Iraqi elections
scheduled for January.
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