Canadian woman freed by Iraqi captors arrives today

A Canadian woman held hostage in Iraq for 15 days was scheduled to arrive here today to be reunited with her family after spending a few days at the Canadian Embassy in Jordan.

Fairuz Yamulky, 39, a Canadian citizen of Iraqi-Kurdish origin, was kidnapped on September 7 in Fallujah, where she worked for General Services Supply International, a Dubai-based company.

The Canadian Embassy in the UAE confirmed her release but refused to give any more details about the kidnapping or when she would arrive in Dubai. An embassy official told Gulf News they could not release any details for security reasons.

Her father, Kamal Yamulky, 72, said: "On September 7, she was kidnapped by criminals who have no relation with the insurgents. She had with her 9 million Iraqi dinars ($6,000) when she was kidnapped."

Fairuz was kidnapped by a gang of criminals who call themselves Assad Allah Brigade and she escaped with the help of her Iraqi guard, whom she promised to help relocate to Canada.

Fairuz was flown out of Iraq on Thursday to the Canadian Embassy in Amman on her way to Dubai, where she will be reunited with her two sons, her former husband and her father.

Her father said Fairuz left for Iraq on August 28. She was to return on September 15. "I came to know on September 8 that Fairuz was missing from the manager of the company where she works. I did not hear from the kidnappers and I did not hear anything from my daughter," Yamulky said.

" I tried to contact people who I know there, but they could not help me. I called a friend from Jordan, Mohammad Hanon, and asked him to find my daughter."

"My friend searched everywhere in Fallujah, but he could not find out anything about her."

He said his friend finally received an envelope that contained a message telling him to leave the area within 30 minutes. It also contained the kidnappers' demands $2.5 million, the release of 50 Iraqi women from jail and 150 new houses to be built in Iraqi cities by her company to replace those hit by US bombs.

Yamulky said the gang also called for the manager of the company to make an announcement on five TV channels Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, Al Hurra, Al Manar and CBC to say he is sorry for dealing with Americans and will stop dealing with them.

"We received the letter from the kidnappers on September 17 and they threatened that they would kill her the next day.

"It was such a difficult time for us and we did not know what to do. But I had hope that Allah would help her. They beat her up and made her suffer," he said.

Recalling those horrifying days of waiting for news, he said: "I called my daughter on her cellphone and a gang member answered. I told him we had received their letter but that their demands were impossible. He cursed and hung up."

The manager of the company suspected a man called Abu Hamed, who works for the same company, of being behind the kidnapping.

"I called Abu Hamed and begged him to help my daughter. I sent him an e-mail asking him to help her. Then I called him again to find out if he had received the e-mail but he asked me to speak to my daughter instead.

"I do not know how my daughter was with him.

"My daughter said a man had helped her run away and that is all I know."

Yamulky said he is indebted to the Chicago-based National Guard unit that picked her up while on a routine patrol in northern Iraq.