Three Romanian journalists and guide freed after being held hostage for 55 days

Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the Romanian government's announcement today that the three Romanian journalists and their Iraqi-American guide have been freed after being held hostage in Iraq since 28 March. Presidential spokesmen Adrianan Saftoiu said they were all uninjured and that the date of their return to Romania would be announced later. "This is of course excellent news," the press freedom organization said. "The three journalists had been held for 55 days and we are extremely relieved to learn of their release. Our first thoughts go out to their families who are finally going to be reunited with their loved-ones in the coming hours or days." Reporters Without Borders added: "We are also interpreting this news as an encouraging sign for French journalist Florence Aubenas of Libération and her Iraqi guide Hussein Hanoun, who are also being held hostage, and we must seize this moment to step up our efforts in support of their release." The three Romanian journalists are Marie-Jeanne Ion, 32, a reporter with the Bucharest-based television station Prima TV, Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, 30, a Prima TV cameraman, and Eduard Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37, a reporter with the privately-owned daily newspaper Romania Libera. They were kidnapped with their guide, Mohamed Munaf, five days after arriving in Iraq. On the evening of 30 March, two days after their abduction, the Qatar-based satellite TV news station Al-Jazeera broadcast a very short video showing the three journalists alive. A second, poor-quality video of the four hostages was broadcast by Al-Jazeera on 22 April. It showed the journalists handcuffed, haggard, barefoot and with guns pointed at their heads. Their abductors, who called themselves "The Brigade of Mouadh Ibn Jabal," threatened to kill them if the Romanian government did not withdraw its troops from Iraq within four days.