Woman escapes beheading 'Tough chick ' talks her way to freedom
CanWest News Service | 22 Sep
TORONTO -- A Calgary woman held hostage in Iraq for two weeks managed to escape beheading after convincing one of her captors that if he set her free, she would help him start a new life in Canada, her family revealed yesterday. The secret deal was brokered one day after armed terrorists threatened to execute Fairuz Yamulky unless they were paid $2.5 million US and authorities agreed to free 50 female Iraqi prisoners, her father said yesterday.
The kidnappers also demanded Fairuz's employer, G.S.S. International, build 150 homes in various Iraqi cities to replace those destroyed by American bombs, he said.
But on Tuesday afternoon, as the group's leader was negotiating with Yamulky's family, the 38-year-old mother of two found herself locked in a Fallujah home with a single guard watching over her. By 5 p.m. local time, her father said, she had persuaded the unidentified man to let her go in return for helping to bring him to Canada.
"My daughter is very smart and clever, and she was able to convince him and talk to him in a nice way," said Kamal Yamulky, who has been in regular contact with the kidnappers since last week. "She did a good job."
The federal government yesterday would not discuss details about Yamulky's case, other than to confirm reports she was picked up Tuesday night by a team of U.S. National Guard soldiers and to say the Department of Foreign Affairs was closely monitoring the situation. But the woman's family -- ecstatic over her sudden escape -- revealed chilling details about her two-week ordeal, from the day she was abducted at gunpoint to the night she was freed.
"She's a very tough chick, that's all I know," said her younger sister, Lausanne Ham, who, like most of the Yamulky family -- eight sisters and two brothers -- lives in the Vancouver area.
Yamulky, an Iraqi-born Kurd, moved to Canada in 1993 and became a citizen in 1997. She spent the past decade moving between British Columbia and Calgary, where up until last year she was employed by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.
In 2003, however, she and her two sons -- aged 14 and eight -- packed up and moved to the United Arab Emirates. After operating her own business, Yamulky Trading Company, she was offered a job at G.S.S., a firm that does contract supply work for the U.S. military in Iraq.
She accepted and by Aug. 28 was back in Baghdad.
That move worried her father. "I said: 'Please Fairuz, be careful, because you never know what can happen. It's only a matter of seconds, and then we cannot do anything,"' the 72-year-old recalled yesterday from Dubai, where he was visiting on business when his daughter went missing.
"She said: 'Don't worry dad. You know me, I'm very brave. And don't believe the media. They are exaggerating things in Baghdad."'
That conversation occurred Sept. 6. The next day, as Yamulky was driving with a fellow worker and a bodyguard, their truck was ambushed. The gun-toting kidnappers allowed the men to flee, but they kept Yamulky.
"For a week, we had absolutely no news," said her 29-year-old sister, Roxanne. "We had no clue where she was."
Then, a letter was received at the office of Yamulky's employer with instructions to the family as to how to reach the kidnappers in order to start negotiations.
Kamal Yamulky, who was unable to travel to Iraq himself because he did not have a valid visa, said he sent a representative to meet the abductors. By this time, the Canadian Embassy in Amman, Jordan, was aware of the kidnapping and consular officials were working closely with the family, the U.S. military, and local law enforcement.
-- CanWest News Service
CanWest News Service | 22 Sep
TORONTO -- A Calgary woman held hostage in Iraq for two weeks managed to escape beheading after convincing one of her captors that if he set her free, she would help him start a new life in Canada, her family revealed yesterday. The secret deal was brokered one day after armed terrorists threatened to execute Fairuz Yamulky unless they were paid $2.5 million US and authorities agreed to free 50 female Iraqi prisoners, her father said yesterday.
The kidnappers also demanded Fairuz's employer, G.S.S. International, build 150 homes in various Iraqi cities to replace those destroyed by American bombs, he said.
But on Tuesday afternoon, as the group's leader was negotiating with Yamulky's family, the 38-year-old mother of two found herself locked in a Fallujah home with a single guard watching over her. By 5 p.m. local time, her father said, she had persuaded the unidentified man to let her go in return for helping to bring him to Canada.
"My daughter is very smart and clever, and she was able to convince him and talk to him in a nice way," said Kamal Yamulky, who has been in regular contact with the kidnappers since last week. "She did a good job."
The federal government yesterday would not discuss details about Yamulky's case, other than to confirm reports she was picked up Tuesday night by a team of U.S. National Guard soldiers and to say the Department of Foreign Affairs was closely monitoring the situation. But the woman's family -- ecstatic over her sudden escape -- revealed chilling details about her two-week ordeal, from the day she was abducted at gunpoint to the night she was freed.
"She's a very tough chick, that's all I know," said her younger sister, Lausanne Ham, who, like most of the Yamulky family -- eight sisters and two brothers -- lives in the Vancouver area.
Yamulky, an Iraqi-born Kurd, moved to Canada in 1993 and became a citizen in 1997. She spent the past decade moving between British Columbia and Calgary, where up until last year she was employed by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.
In 2003, however, she and her two sons -- aged 14 and eight -- packed up and moved to the United Arab Emirates. After operating her own business, Yamulky Trading Company, she was offered a job at G.S.S., a firm that does contract supply work for the U.S. military in Iraq.
She accepted and by Aug. 28 was back in Baghdad.
That move worried her father. "I said: 'Please Fairuz, be careful, because you never know what can happen. It's only a matter of seconds, and then we cannot do anything,"' the 72-year-old recalled yesterday from Dubai, where he was visiting on business when his daughter went missing.
"She said: 'Don't worry dad. You know me, I'm very brave. And don't believe the media. They are exaggerating things in Baghdad."'
That conversation occurred Sept. 6. The next day, as Yamulky was driving with a fellow worker and a bodyguard, their truck was ambushed. The gun-toting kidnappers allowed the men to flee, but they kept Yamulky.
"For a week, we had absolutely no news," said her 29-year-old sister, Roxanne. "We had no clue where she was."
Then, a letter was received at the office of Yamulky's employer with instructions to the family as to how to reach the kidnappers in order to start negotiations.
Kamal Yamulky, who was unable to travel to Iraq himself because he did not have a valid visa, said he sent a representative to meet the abductors. By this time, the Canadian Embassy in Amman, Jordan, was aware of the kidnapping and consular officials were working closely with the family, the U.S. military, and local law enforcement.
-- CanWest News Service
