Hostages freed!!

What wonderful news! The first ray of light in an awefully long time in Iraq. There was an amazing outpouring of support from around the world, ranging from a statement of support from Hizbollah in Lebanon, to a hunger strike by an exiled Algerian Islamicist. Over 10,000 people signed our petition and hundreds of groups registered their support. We struggled through three weeks of rumours and counter rumours but no solid evidence, and were beginning to lose hope... when suddenly there are the two smiling faces which have become so familiar around the world! It has not been consistently reported, but the Iraqis Ra'ad and Mahnoaz have also been freed. Alhamdulillah! I'm heading off to Washington this evening to try and lobby in support of Iraq at the IMF Autumn meetings, it's going to be a tough and frustrating couple of days I expect, but I'm feeling encouraged by this wonderful news.