Freed US hostage flies home amid controversy

JILL CARROLL, the US journalist held hostage for 82 days in Iraq, flew home yesterday amid a lingering controversy over remarks she made in a videotape about the US occupation in Iraq.

In a video, recorded before she was freed and posted by her captors on an Islamist website, Ms Carroll spoke out against the US military presence.

But she said the recording was made under duress.

“During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I co-operated. I was living in a threatening environment, under their control, and wanted to go home alive. So I agreed,” she said in a statement.

“Things that I was forced to say while captive are now being taken by some as an accurate reflection of my personal views. They are not.”

She also strongly disavowed statements she made during captivity and shortly after her release, saying she had been threatened.

Republican Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, said he would not take seriously anything Carroll said while she was being held captive.

“I would not any more than we took seriously other tapes and things that were done in other prison situations, including the Vietnam War,” Mr McCain said.