Iraqi president vows not to cave in to kidnappers

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq's president vowed to not cave in to insurgents who have sparked a kidnapping crisis, although the employer of two Jordanian hostages said it would leave the country to save them.

In the face of a raging insurgency and a wave of kidnappings aimed at pressuring the new US-backed government and forcing out foreign troops and interests, President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar vowed no compromise.

"We will never give in to their demands or negotiate with them," Yawar told reporters after meeting with tribal chiefs from the restive western province of Al-Anbar, where many of the hostages are suspected of being held.

"Whoever the hostage, we won't pay a single cent or make any concessions." But a Jordanian transport firm, Daoud and Partners, which supplies the US military in Iraq, said it was ending its business in the country to try to save two of its drivers, Ahmed Salameh Hussein, 34, and Fayez Saad al-Adwan, 58.

"We have taken this decision for humanitarian reasons and out of a concern to assure the safety of our staff and obtain the release of our two drivers," executive director Rami al-Uweiss told AFP in Amman.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040727/wl_mideast_afp/iraq&cid=1514&ncid=1480

[shoelace414]

1. I wonder if he would think differently

if he was the kindapped