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Tears of joy as father meets freed daughter

DUBAI — Fairuz Yamulky, an Iraqi-Canadian female employee working for a US firm in Iraq who was taken hostage earlier this month but managed to escape, arrived at Dubai International Airport from Jordan yesterday afternoon physically and emotionally drained.

Amidst strict security measures, Ms. Yamulky was whisked to the VIP lounge at the airport by Canadian Embassy officials from where she was taken home by her father to rest.

Kamal Yamulky, the woman’s father, broke down and cried as he embraced his daughter upon her arrival. He told Khaleej Times that he could hardly believe his eyes as he saw Fairuz walk out off the VIP lounge.

“I had a business meeting in Dubai when the embassy called me 15 minutes prior to my daughter’s arrival and asked me to come to the VIP lounge of the airport, I did not even have the opportunity to bring my grand children with me to the airport to see their mother,” Mr. Yamulky said.

Fairuz Yamulky was working in Iraq when she was abducted by a criminal gang known as Asad Allah Brigade on the 5th of this month in the town of Fallujah while travelling in her vehicle. The company she worked for, GSF Cement and Sand specialises in construction of military camps and manages the reconstruction project for Baghdad International Airport.

“Both Fairuz’s children, Shuwan aged 14 and the Huzan aged eight, were crying hard as they met their mother at the entrance of our apartment building. She was unable to talk even with me, she just wanted to sleep and hold her kids,” Mr. Yamulky said, adding that his daughter had been given sleeping pills and medication to numb the pain as she was tortured and beaten by her abductors.

The family are residents of Burnaby, Vancouver. The father was in Dubai on a visit visa to finish some business prior to his daughter’s abduction. He said that all negotiations for her release were conducted from Dubai.

“On the 23rd of this month, while we were negotiating with the kidnappers, my daughter found herself alone with only one of the kidnappers, who she convinced to help her escape, in return she promised to help resettle him in Canada. That same night she was found by a US helicopter patrol which evacuated her to Jordan where the Canadian Embassy there took charge of her and brought her to Dubai,” Mr. Yamulky said.

The kidnappers asked for three things, first, they demanded the company pull out from Iraq immediately, second, they asked GSF Cement and Sand to build 150 new houses for Iraqi citizens to replace those struck by US missiles and bombs, third, they asked for $2.5 million and the release of 50 Iraqi women from jail.

Mr. Yamulky said he was the only one negotiating with the kidnappers who threatened to kill his daughter; he had called a friend of his in Jordan to come and help him in an effort to arrive at a solution to secure his daughter’s release. “I am shocked, how can these people kidnap innocent employees and ask their families to pay such exorbitant sums, they are only there to earn a living,” Mr. Yamulky said.

He thanked the Canadian Government for their effort and apologised for a statement made by his daughter Roxanna, criticising the Canadian Government, as reported on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news web site. Roxanna was reported to have said the government had a long way to go in terms of fighting terrorism and said they lack the resources to help secure her sister’s release, having done little to get Canadian hostages released.

“My daughter managed to free herself due to her courage and quick wit, in spite of the fact that she was badly beaten and tortured by her abductors. It was difficult for the Canadian Government to intervene due to the lack of diplomatic representation in Baghdad and the fact Canada has no military forces in Iraq. Their help was very useful all the same, as they gave me advice from behind the scene on what to do,” Mr. Yamulky said.

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