Ex-hostage Sunni woman lawmaker gives emotional speech in parliament

[ECH1969]

Sunni Arab lawmaker Tayseer al-Mashhadani, who was held hostage for two months, gave an emotional speech to parliament Tuesday urging Iraq's political factions to unite for the sake of their country.

Al-Mashhadani, an engineer, was freed Aug. 26 after purportedly being held by Shiite militants. She was kidnapped along with a handful of her bodyguards on July 1 by gunmen in a Shiite area north of Baghdad as they were traveling from nearby Diyala province to attend a parliament session the following day.

"God knows how tough that was for me and that bitterness that eats the heart from the horrors I suffered," said the mother of two sons, aged 2 and 3. Al-Mashhadani, however, said that captivity gave her a personal taste of what the whole of Iraq is going through because of the violence and "desecration of all the meanings of humanity."

"Brothers and sisters, despite all the setbacks and wounds I suffered, I felt a deeper wound and a bigger pain — that of Iraq and my people who voted for me," she said. She vowed that her ordeal will only strengthen her insistence to "go on serving this precious nation."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/09/05/africa/ME_GEN_Iraq_Released_Lawmaker.php

[acmavm]

1. I just don't know how to adequately say "Good for her"!