Jordanian Hostages Freed in Iraq

Four Jordanian hostages have been freed unharmed in Iraq, apparently after a tribal chief organised a raid on the house where they had been held for eight days, it was reported today.

Meanwhile, two Turkish drivers being held hostage by a different militant group will be released, their captors said today. The announcement came after their company said it would stop sending trucks to US troops in Iraq, Arab satellite network al-Jazeera reported.

An important supply chain for US troops in Iraq was disrupted on Monday when Turkish truck owners announced that they were suspending deliveries across the border in an attempt to secure the release of the two hostage drivers.

Tribal leader Sheikh Haj Ibrahim Jassam told the Associated Press by telephone that the Jordanian hostages - three drivers and a businessman - were safe in his home. They had previously been named as Ahmad Abu Jaafar, Mohammad Ahmad Khleifat, Khaled Ibrahim Masoud and Ahmad Tayseer Sunokrot.

Sheikh Jassam, who said he was a tribal chief in Falluja, told the agency he had received word last night that the four Jordanians were being held in a house on the edge of the city and he decided to act.

"I called upon my brothers and tribesmen to free the hostages, so we raided the house last night," he said, adding that the kidnappers had fled.

"I'm glad that those innocent Muslims were freed," he said.

One of the freed hostages, Ahmad Abu Jaafar, said they were kidnapped along the main highway eight days ago by a group that never named its demands for their freedom.

"The kidnappers have nothing to do with the resistance," he said. "I thank God and the people of Falluja and I tell my family in Jordan not to worry, because we will see them soon."

The four men were abducted by a group calling itself Mujahideen of Iraq, the Group of Death. The kidnapping came to light last week when Dubai television broadcast a video tape showing the four men holding what appeared to be Jordanian identification cards.

Families of the four had previously said the kidnappers promised to free their captives after relatives and fellow truck drivers staged an anti-US demonstration.

Today Abu Jaafar called on the Jordanian government to stop supporting the US and its presence in Iraq.

"I wasn't delivering any goods to the US forces in Iraq, I was delivering goods to Iraqi traders and I would rather die rather than serve the Americans in Iraq," he said.

Sheik Jassam called the kidnappers "terrorists, who are not from Falluja".

"What we did was in response to all the evil forces from outside Falluja who want to distort the image of the city and its people," he said.

Sheik Jassam said he would personally return the four men to Jordan. "No one from the Jordanian embassy has contacted me yet, but I will deliver them to their families," he said.

Falluja, a Sunni stronghold where insurgents regularly engage in fierce skirmishes with US forces, is also believed to be the safe haven for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.