Bucharest
The Arab immigrant community in Romania won praise this week for helping secure the release of three Romanian journalists held hostage for two months in Iraq. A Romanian Arab business association managed to contact the kidnappers, and several Romanian imams negotiated with them. “This release is the result of a call by the Islamic authorities of Romania, who deployed tremendous efforts to make their voice heard,” said diplomat Octavian Harseu. The kidnapping initially strained relations between the Arab community and the government, which has been investigating prominent Arab businessmen for suspected tax evasion. Romanian newspapers speculated that the Arab community worked so hard to free the hostages in exchange for the government’s agreement to back off.
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