Syrian who was kidnapped in Iraq to sue American liberators

A Syrian chauffeur and translator kidnapped in August in Iraq with two French journalists intends to sue his American liberators for maltreatment, the French daily Le Parisien reported yesterday.


Mohammad Al Jundi was held and interrogated by US Marines for eight days following his liberation on November 11 in the city of Fallujah.

During that time, he claimed, he was maltreated and threatened with death. He was also not allowed to contact his family, his attorney or his consulate, nor was he permitted to be examined by a doctor after being held by radical Muslims for three months.

Following his interrogation, the Marines dropped him in the streets of the war-ravaged city without shoes or papers, Al Jundi said.

Al Jundi has entrusted the lawsuit to an attorney in Paris, where he now lives with his family. His brother-in-law, Ali Merhebi, said the legal action would target US President George W. Bush, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, and future Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The suit is to be filed early next week, Le Parisien reported.

Al Jundi was kidnapped with French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot on August 20 by a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq.

US Marines found Al Jundi when they took Fallujah, but the two French journalists remain in the hands of their abductors.

There have been scores of kidnappings for ransom in Iraq.