Nearly two days after the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists and their businessman guide, backer and translator for their journey to Iraq, events have turned more complicated as opposed to clearing up as details emerge.
Initially only three journalists and some "Iraqi terrorists" were involved. Now, however, with more and more pieces of the picture emerging, things are getting stranger by the minute, rather than clearer as would be expected. One of the first pieces of information to come out after President Traian Basescu confirmed the disappearance of reporter Marie Jeanne Ion and cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci from Prima TV and reporter Ovidiu Ohanesian from Romania Libera revealed that they were not alone at the time of kidnapping but in the company of Mohammad Munaf, a businessman with double US and Iraqi citizenship. Munaf had paid for the trip to Iraq, had facilitated meetings with high-ranking Iraqi officials and even acted as translator.
The way in which the Prima TV journalists left for Iraq is also unclear, as Dan Dumitru, Prima TV's news editor admitted, with Marie Jeanne Ion having to insist that she be allowed to go. The most important argument in favour of her going was that Munaf would fund the trip and take care of the security arrangements. Added to this comes the information that the Iraqi-American allegedly had contacts within the Iraqi Ministry of Internal Affairs Ministry, meaning he could in theory have arranged security matters, particularly in areas known for kidnapping and robbery.
Apart from messages of support and reassurance that every effort was being made to secure the release of the hostages, the Romanian authorities have so far provided no valuable information relating to the kidnappings. This means information has to be sought elsewhere. On Tuesday, Prima TV's Dan Dumitru explained on all TV and radio stations that there were many things he did not know, that no signal had been received from the kidnappers and everything relied on the efficiency of the Romanian authorities and the international anti-terror coalition. Romania Libera, the newspaper that sent Ovidiu Ohanesian to Iraq, the third Romanian journalist in the kidnapping, also did not seem to know any more about the situation.
Omar Hayssam, a millionaire businessman, spoke live by telephone to almost every Romanian TV station in Romania on Tuesday night. A Syrian-born businessman, Hayssam is a friend and business partner of Mohammad Munaf. He provided Tuesday's apparent bombshell, saying he had been called on the morning of that day by an unknown person "with an Iraqi accent" who demanded a 4 million dollar ransom for the hostages.
