Video of kidnapped journalist broadcast on Al-Jazeera

BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a new videotape aired Monday by Al-Jazeera, and the Arab television station said she appealed for the release of all Iraqi women prisoners.

The video was dated Saturday, two days after the U.S. military released five Iraqi women.

Carroll, 28, was crying and wore a conservative Islamic veil as she spoke to the camera, sitting in front of a yellow and black tapestry. The Al-Jazeera newscaster said she appealed for U.S. and Iraqi authorities to free all women prisoners to help “in winning her release.”

At one point, Carroll’s cracking voice can be heard from behind the newsreader’s voice. All that can be heard is Carroll saying, “… Hope for the families … “

The U.S. military released the five women last Thursday and was believed be holding about six more. It was unclear how many women Iraqi authorities are holding.

Carroll, a freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, was seized Jan. 7 by the previously unknown Revenge Brigades, which threatened to kill her unless all women prisoners were released. Al-Jazeera did not report any deadline or threat to kill her Monday.

Al-Jazeera editor Yasser Thabit said the station received the tape Monday and that it was two to three minutes long, but only a fraction of the footage was telecast.

In a statement, the Christian Science Monitor again appealed for her release.

“Anyone with a heart will feel distressed that an innocent woman like Jill Carroll would be treated in the manner shown in the latest video aired by Al-Jazeera,” the statement said. “We add our voice to those of Arabs around the world, and especially to those in Iraq, who have condemned this act of kidnapping. We ask that she be returned to the protection of her family immediately.”

Carroll’s father, who lives in North Carolina, has said he will have no comment until her release.

U.S. troops clashed throughout the day with insurgents west of Baghdad. Iraqi police launched a new raid in a Sunni Arab-dominated part of the capital, despite Sunni calls to halt such operations during talks to form a new government.

The clashes west of Baghdad occurred in Ramadi, capital of the insurgent-ridden Anbar province, and began when gunmen fired at least five rocket-propelled grenade rounds and rifles at U.S. Army soldiers, a military spokesman said.

“The soldiers returned fire and called in a jet nearby to attack the insurgents’ position with their main gun,” Marine Capt. Jeffrey Pool said. Two insurgents were killed, but there were no U.S. casualties, he added.

U.S. troops later called in an airstrike against insurgents holed up at the Ramadi sports stadium, raising a column of smoke, residents said. Two civilians were injured when mortar shells exploded near the provincial office building, and one woman was killed by small-arms fire, they added.

In Baghdad, Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos searched the notorious Dora neighborhood, a largely Sunni Arab district and the scene of frequent bombings and killings. More than 80 suspects were arrested, including eight Sudanese, four Egyptians, a Tunisian and Lebanese, according to Maj. Faleh al-Mohammedawi.

Sunni Arabs have accused the Shiite-led Interior Ministry forces of abuses against Sunnis. Ministry officials insist the raids are necessary to combat insurgents.

Iraqi police and soldiers, most of them Shiites, are frequent targets of Sunni insurgents.

In the latest attacks, a suicide car bomber slammed into a commando headquarters where police were training in Nasiriyah, about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, killing one police officer and wounding more than 30, police reported.

ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were showing signs of improvement Monday after being seriously injured in a roadside bombing, according to the network and officials at a U.S. military hospital in Germany.

Woodruff briefly opened his eyes and responded to stimuli to his hands and feet, the network said. ABC News President David Westin said it may be possible for the men to be flown back to the United States as early as today.

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