"No Money Given!"

The representatives of the Islamic and Cultural League in Romania are convinced that there no money have been paid for the solving of the crisis of the Romanian hostages in Iraq. The Romanian authorities are the ones that will have to say what was it that they gave in exchange for the freedom of the journalists, the same representatives say.

OPINION. The leaders of the Islamic League in Romania say that the authorities should say what was it that they gave in exchange for the freedom of the journalists.

The President of the Islamic and Cultural League, Dr, Falliz Allaqta, who called an atypical press conference yesterday - with questions and answers for the press on the hallway only, during his departure - , wanted to present the efforts of the Muslim community in Romania for the freeing of the three journalists.

EFFORTS. According to him, Romanian Muslim community’s contribution to the peaceful solving of the crisis, without the journalists being hurt, has been a "positive and decisive" one, but he didn’t give any details.

Dr. Allaqta gave a diplomatic and concise answer to the press’s questions regarding what the members of the Arabian community in Romania thought of Omar Hayssam before the crisis: "Many a good father hath a bad son!". According to him, the Romanian authorities have to give further more details on the releasing operations for the three journalists and to say whether Omar Hayssam and his business associate, Mohammad Munaf, are guilty or not. Traian Basescu said about Munaf that he is the kidnapped that became co-author of the kidnapping in Baghdad.

PLEASED . The President of the Islamic and Cultural League stated that all the contacts that the representatives of the League and of the Muslim community in Romania had during the crisis have been realized "of one’s own bat", but they have been supported by the Romanian authorities, and the explanation of their involvement is a "humanitarian and moral one". Thanking to God and to the important people in Bucharest - authorities, President Traian Basescu and even the mass media - , the representatives of the Muslim community welcomed the peaceful solving of the crisis. Dr. Allaqta referred again to the information according to which the Muslims in Romania - Romanian citizens or residents - contacted everyone they could from Europe (from France especially), from Iraq and other countries in the Middle East, in order to give a helping hand to the freeing procedures.

This is how we found out that, at a certain time, the representatives of the League went to Turkey, where they met other Muslim leaders across Europe, and this meeting resulted in an appeal broadcasted on Al-Jazeera TV station. As a matter of fact, the League had the initiative of bringing a team from this pan-Arabian TV station in Romania, for a feature report on the hostages, and some of it had even been broadcasted.

One other connection set up by the Islamic League is the one between the Romanian Embassy in Baghdad and the Council of the Muslim Clerics in Iraq, as well as the one with the Islamic Party in Iraq, who actually pleaded for the freeing of the captive journalists.

ENIGMATIC YASSIN. Dr. Mohamad Yassin, this is the name of one of the members of the Arabian community in Romania, probably the key person in the negotiations for the freeing of the journalists, that was always surrounded with almost full muteness every time it was pronounced. Even though he is a member of the community, Dr. Fariz Allaqta didn’t know Yassin before the crisis, as he stated. There were times when they where both in Baghdad, but they didn’t meet. Asked to explain the presence in Baghdad of a delegation of the League two days before the freeing of the journalists, Dr. Allaqta stated that those people had gone to Iraq to help to "solve the crisis" and that they hadn’t known it had already approximately been solved at that time.

Dr.’s Allaqta statement ended with a repeated conclusion: "The solving of this crisis was different that any other cases in which journalists where kidnapped in Iraq". Some sort of "If the cap fits, wear it!".

Who called Omar Hayssam?

President Basescu showed on Monday night that Omar became a suspect for the crisis cell after the authorities intercepted, on the 29th of May, the phone call in which he said he had been asked for 4 million US dollars in exchange for the kidnapped journalists. "Hayssam didn’t know one thing. At 9:15 in the morning the authorities intercepted a call that he had got from Baghdad, but it was from a Connnex SIM card, which was immediately identified. He was told at 9:15 that the adventure cost 4 million US dollars and he started to make it public. It was a SIM card, whose number began with 0742. So, the one who called left with it from Romania and called from Baghdad at approximately 12-14 hours after the kidnapping", the chief of the state said. The President talks about a Connex card but the number belongs to Orange. In fact, later on during the conference he admitted he didn’t know for sure the operator: "ORANGE or CONNEX GO or what ever you want", he tells to the journalists. It is important that Omar had been called from a Romanian number. Moreover, the Orange and Connex websites show that they have coverage in Iraq, due to their deal with the Iraqi mobile telephony operator, but the roaming service is available for the SIM cards with subscription only, and not for the prepaid cards. Therefore, even though there is information saying that Munaf brought to Baghdad some cards, that had been given to the terrorists, Omar hadn’t been called from an anonymous number, but by a registered user. Who is he, and why did the President only say that the SIM had been identified, but nothing about its user? (Oana Stancu).

Omar’s doctor contradicts Basescu

The doctor that took care of Omar at the Obregia Hospital says he suffers from a mental disease. He stated for Mediafax that Hayssam got in the hospital on 20 December last year and stood there until the day of the kidnapping of the three journalists - 28 March. The psychiatrist explained that the hospitalization period extended because his condition got worse, due to the fact he had been interrogated at the Prosecutor’s Office. He said that, when he left the hospital, Hayssam was diagnosed with "schizo-affective disorder, depressive episode", in an amelioration state, showing that this disease’s status can evolve well and that this is not the same thing as schizophrenia. As for the President’s admonition for the doctors that would say that the Syrian is suffering from any diseases, the doctor saw it as a "rough thing", because he cannot imagine a doctor "holding a person in hospital for more than three months, especially when the diagnose doesn’t release him in any way". (L.D.)

The Syrian followed by Vulpea, no results

Basescu was asked why the Romanian Secret Services didn’t know about the preparations of the kidnapping of the three journalists. According to analyst Radu Tudor, the law says that in the moment in which the Hayssam file got from the RIS (Romanian Information Services) to the General Prosecutor’s Office (October 2004), the Prosecutor’s Office took full responsibility. "The Prosecutor’s Office takes all the decisions. The General Prosecutor’s Office has a deal with the General Information and Internal Protection Direction (GIIPD) inside the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the responsibility of intercepting Omar Hayssam’s phone calls and of observing his actions was taken by this service". We have to emphasize that this service is run by General Virgil Ardeleanu (photo), also known as Vulpea (the Fox), the same person involved in several scandals who wasn’t substituted after the elections this autumn. Tudor also told us that, he personally knows that this service has been named to take over the Hayssam monitoring from RIS, which was confirmed by the Public Ministry yesterday. In this case, the analyst thinks that we should be informed why didn’t GIIPD know about Omar’s plan.