The Shadow Comments on the Jill Carroll Series

As The Shadow reported recently, Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter who was held hostage for 82 days in Iraq, wrote an 11-part series on her ordeal. The series ended today.

Jill Carroll
(photo courtesy The Christian Science Monitor)
There are no words that The Shadow can add to this. To read the horror that this woman went through is unreal. Jill was a woman of real courage.

The Shadow will not elaborate on the series except to say that you need to read it to really understand what goes on when a person is taken hostage.

There are two footnotes that The Shadow wishes to bring to everyone's attention:

* When Jill was kidnapped, her interpreter and good friend Alan Enwiya was killed by the kidnappers.

Alan Enwiya (left) and surviving family
(photo courtesy Christian Science Monitor)

His wife, Fairuz, two children, Martin and Mary Ann, and his parents have left Iraq and hope to settle with an extended family here in the United States. The Christian Science Monitor has established a fund to help Alan's surviving family settle here in the United States. Donations can be sent to:

The Alan Enwiya Fund
c/o The Christian Science Monitor
One Norway Street
Boston, MA 02115

* Jill's driver on that fateful day, Adnan Abbas, is the only witness to the murder of Alan Enwiya. He has left Iraq with his wife and four children (one of the children is a newborn) for their own safety. A fund has also been set up for Adnan Abbas. Donations can be sent to The Adnan Abbas Fund at the address above.

When Jill was released, she was given $800 and a gold necklace by the kidnappers. Jill has donated the $800 to the fund and will sell the necklace and donate the proceeds to the fund as well.

It is our hope that this will never happen again. But if it does, The Shadow will be here.

If you have not read the series, you can read it here.