Kidnapping or Framing

The three Romanian journalists could be the innocent pieces of certain tissues, with roots in Bucharest and Baghdad.

Marie Jeanne, Ovidiu and Sorin Marie Jeanne, Ovidiu and Sorin could be the innocent victims of some dirty affairs in Bucharest

All the Romanians barely wait for news about the three journalists kidnapped in Baghdad. More than 48 hours have passed since their kidnapping and no official confirmation of their kidnapping has appeared. Omar Hayssam, a Romanian-Syrian businessman, is the only person to state he was contacted by an unknown person who asked, in Arabic, for a ransom in exchange for the freedom of the hostages. On Monday, he stated for the press he received two phone calls, he was asked for money and he is willing to pay the asked sum of money for the freeing of Marie Jeanne Ion, Eduard Ovidiu Ohanesian, Sorin Miscoci and their Iraqi companion, Mahomad Munaf. Yesterday, the recording of the phone calls between Hayssam and the alleged kidnappers has entered in the possession of the specialists named by the operative group in Cotroceni.

WITHOUT PROTECTION. We don’t know anything about the kidnappers in Baghdad, but the person they contacted for the obtaining of the ransom has a visit card that asks for all our attention. Omar Hayssam, top billionaire, SDP member, has great legislative problems at present. He is being investigated, for money laundry and for suspicious privatizations he seems to have benefited from. In this case, he is the one who sponsored, with the help of his Iraqi-American friend Munaf, the journalists’ expedition. Therefore, Munaf had to take care of everything, including the protection of the journalists. There was a total lack in it.

If we don’t take into consideration all the speculations crushing down the editorial offices, as well as the fantasist hypotheses launched by all kinds of pseudo-specialists, the few certain facts draw up the picture of an atypical kidnapping, out of the ordinary ones until now. With the support of several anti-terrorist specialists and of several connoisseurs in the realities in Iraq, we tried to put the facts in logical schemes so that it would form credible scenarios.

VERSIONS. The four hypotheses brought up in front by the specialists we consulted, and whose names we won’t publish because they are part of the information community, are as follows:

The kidnapping is framed by Hayssam, with the following benefits for him: the rehabilitation in the eyes of the public opinion and of the authorities, in the case of a success in freeing the hostages; the unblocking of his accounts that the Prossecutor’s Office arrested and the getting out of the country of the hypothetical sum destined to the ransom;

The authors are Iraqi muggers, the so-called "Ali Baba", which wait for not such a great sum of money as ransom. In this case, the journalists have been "randomly" kidnapped;

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The authors are professionals, who acted according to a precise plan, with the purpose of obtaining money or a certain political claim, such as the withdrawing of the Army’s troops from Iraq.

Some "clips", who further sell the "catch" to the professionals, might have made the kidnapping. In this case, the ransom message might appear in 10 days time. We should memorize that, for now, there is no certainty regarding the already received ransom message.

MISCONDUCTS? . In the case of the first scenario, the arguments would be: journalist Marie Jeanne Ion has been allowed to use the cell phone to talk, receive and send SMSs, for seven minutes between, 19:45 and 19:52. This is a highly improbable mistake from some kidnappers preoccupied with running as fast as they could with their catch out of the risk area and with leaving as little marks as possible. Then the journalist mentioned the name of the locality they were about to be taken to. The way the departure of the journalist team was organized seems to be some kind of lobby set up by several Iraqi businessmen in Romania. They are the same people who are being investigated. They acted like they didn’t know a thing about Iraq, even though the chaperon himself and the organizers knew a lot of important people inside the Baghdad administration. The fact that, in the images shown on TV, the parents of the Prima TV reporter seemed pretty calm, causes the appearance of certain questions. Should they trust Omar (who is a good friend of the journalist’s father, senator Ion) so much that they would really believe that he will bring a happy end to this story? The organizers’ decision of sending a blonde woman in Baghdad (another risk, if you know the locals’ mentality) is bizarre. Finally, the benefits that Omar could obtain from being the hypothetical saver are an argument that mustn’t be neglected.

In the case of the second scenario, the one of the muggers, the observation regarding the 7 minutes, in which the kidnapped were able to use the phone, is still standing. They would be capable of asking for the ransom short time after bringing the catch in the "hideout". This is what usually happens with many people who are victims of such bands in Iraq and which don’t usually appear on the official lists. There, swapping "people for money" is the national sport.

CASCADE RISKS. The third and the fourth scenarios are the worst. As time goes by and the case of 3+1 kidnapped becomes more known, the risks that the terrorists - of the Al-Zarkawi type - get in the possession of the three Romanians and of the Iraqi-American get higher. The stake grows with time. The political stake might appear when Iraqis will see they have the daughter of a senator from a coalition country as well as a "traitor" - an Iraqi man with American citizenship. Munfa risks the worse in this case. The fact that details about their biography have been broadcasted on TV stations - attentively watched by the terrorist legions - doesn’t do anything else but aggravate the situation of the three journalists and raise the demands of the kidnappers. Even if A is the true version, the eyes of many bandit and terrorist groups are set upon our compatriots.

THE EMISSARY. For each of the cases, the negotiators’ role is essential. According to the information in yesterday’s press, it seems that a negotiator of Omar Hayssam, introduced as Ayman Asha, has already left for Baghdad to talk with the kidnappers. Wise choice, an Arab. The only allowed assumption by the negotiation manual for such cases. If Hayssam received the only ransom request (which the Romanian secret services investigate at present), then Ayman leaves for Baghdad sent by Hayssam. He is authorized by the Arab to negotiate. No matter what is the true version, there are a lot of signs indicating Bucharest as the key to solve this mistery.

We contacted a few people to find out their opinion about this. Protection expert Florentin Marinescu and former information minister Ion Kilin have seen each of the options as valid. Some are more probable than others, we are told. The wisest thing, and the best for the journalists, is to write and show as few information on them as possible.