Italian hostages 'probably' will be freed

Three Italian hostages being held in Iraq are fine and will probably be freed, a Chaldean Catholic official based in Baghdad said today.

Babylon Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, the spiritual leader of about one million Chaldean Catholics worldwide, has been working to free three Italian security guards abducted April 12.

“The Italian hostages are fine, and I believe they will be freed in the end,” the patriarch said.

“We are doing everything possible, and at this point, I am optimistic about a positive solution to this situation. If things do not get worse, we have good chances,” he said. “We are trying all solutions, leaving nothing out, knocking on every door.”

The kidnappers executed a fourth Italian hostage shortly after abducting the group.

Relatives of the hostages have called a march in Rome tomorrow – although they stressed it is for peace and not against the policies of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a staunch supporter of President George Bush.