RAMADI - The availability of funding and safe havens are becoming more difficult for these illegal orgs to find, which may often lead to drastic measures. "The insurgents' finance here has been cut off by the govt.," explained Col. Hamoud, cmdr of the Al Anbar Iraqi SWAT. "That's why they now go and kidnap people for ransom, to get their finances."
In the case of the Sept. 15 kidnapping of 10-year-old Muthana Misha'an, the kidnappers were smart, he said. According to Hamoud, they referred to one of the kidnappers as "The Ghost", due to the fact that he constantly moved from one location to another.
As ISF raids took place at various locations, the kidnappers constantly relocated in a tireless effort not to be found. According to Muthana, they had taken him into the desert and left him alone at one point. Muthana's father, Khalaf Misha'an, worked with Hamoud and the ISWAT to
buy more time to get the money to pay his son's ransom. During this time, the kidnappers came together in one location.
SECFOR were then able to locate 2 of the kidnappers. The following day, 2 men, who were brothers, were arrested and taken into custody. While the arrest took place, Muthana was able to place another phone call to his father and tell him where he was. Fearing capture, the remaining kidnappers had put Muthana in the trunk of a vehicle and drove him around in circles to confuse him before dropping him off in a neighborhood nearby.
After his rescue and the arrests of the suspects, 3 individuals came forward and informed the authorities of the kidnappers' locations. These
witnesses had previously been kidnapped by what ISF believe is the same group of individuals.
Muthana's father Misha'an was also a previous kidnap victim. At that time (2004), there was no govt and no power. Either they would behead the hostage, or the hostage paid the ransom. "When they kidnapped my son, they used the same tone, Misha'an said. "When I met Col. Hamoud, I trusted him, and it gave me courage."
"The kidnapper knew he was being watched, but I was telling him the most important thing to me was my son," Misha'an said. "I was on the phone with them for 10 days. Each minute felt like one year of my life. I was thinking even if I could afford the ransom, he could get away with it, and he will do it again and again to other people."
"In this case, we saw a lot of citizens' support, which gave us a lot of power and courage to continue," said Hamoud. "By detaining those individuals, it gave courage to some of those people to come and speak out, and there are more on the way."
"Getting back Muthana in our arms is when our lives started again," said Misha'an.
