2006年VOA标准英语-US Hostage Jill Carroll Released in Iraq

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
30 March 2006

watch Jill Carroll profile

American journalist Jill Carroll has been released by her captors in Iraq, nearly three months after she was kidnapped at gunpoint. 

 
Jill Carroll during interview
  
Someone, it is not clear who, dropped Jill Carroll off on Thursday morning outside the Baghdad office of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a moderate Sunni group.

In an interview with Baghdad television filmed at the party headquarters after her release, she said her captors treated her well.

"Very good treatment, very good treatment. I was kept in a very good, small safe place, a safe room. Nice furniture. They gave me clothing, plenty of food. I was allowed to take showers, go to the bathroom when I wanted. Very good. Never hit me, never even threatened to hit me," she said.

In the video, Carroll is wearing a Muslim headscarf and appears animated¹, happy and healthy. She says she does not know where she was held and had been largely isolated² from news of the outside world.

President Bush said he was "grateful" for Carroll's release. He said he is glad she is alive, speaking to reporters in Cancun, Mexico, where he is attending a two-day summit with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

Speaking in Berlin, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said Carroll's release is a "great delight and great relief."

"This is something that people across the world have worked for and prayed for, and I think we are all very pleased and happy to hear of her release," she said.

Carroll is reported to now be with friends and U.S. officials in the Green Zone. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad says she has spoken to her family by telephone.

"As I said, she is in great spirit. I did spend some time with her. She is anxious to get home, and we will do all we can to help her get home as quickly as possible," he said.

Ambassador Khalilzad thanked the Iraqi leaders who worked for Jill Carroll's freedom, and he thanked the Iraqi Islamic Party for its help after her release.

 
Tariq al-Hashimi, leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party presenting gifts to Jill Carroll
  
The party's leader, Tariq Al-Hashemi, told reporters that party members were astonished when the kidnapped journalist showed up at their office.

"What happened today is that this lady arrived at the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic party without any advance notice," he said. "Our employees and brothers were surprised, that a woman is knocking on the door wearing Islamic attire³. They thought she was a sister from the party's women's office until she revealed her identity."

He says she was holding a letter, written in Arabic, asking for the party's help in returning her to U.S. authorities.

Jill Carroll is a freelance reporter who was working for the Christian⁴ Science Monitor newspaper when she was abducted⁵ by a carload of gunmen in early January. Her interpreter, Allan Enwiyeh, was killed. Carroll spent 82 days as a hostage, and there has been no public word from her captors since a videotape broadcast in early February, in which they threatened to kill her before the end of the month.

The newspaper's editor, Richard Bergenheim, said her colleagues at the paper are overjoyed that she is free, and cannot wait to see her.

"As you can imagine, this is just one of the most exciting days for all of us," he said. "We were thrilled to hear that Jill Carroll has been released and will be back with her family."

The editor read a statement on behalf of the Carroll family.

"Our hearts are full. We are elated by Jill's safe release," he said. "We would like to thank all of the generous people around the world, who worked officially or unofficially, especially those who took personal risks to gain Jill's release."

Ambassador Khalilzad would give few details of the circumstances surrounding her release. When asked whether a ransom⁶ had been paid, he said nobody from the U.S. embassy had "entered into any arrangements with anyone."

1 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

4 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

5 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

6 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。