Happy ending for Cypriot’s Iraq nightmare

Aunt expresses elation at Gerabet Jekerjian’s release

THE AUNT of the Cypriot Lebanese man who was held hostage in Iraq for over four months said yesterday she was ecstatic to hear he was released by his captors at the weekend after the family paid a US$200,000 ransom.

“It’s the best Christmas present I could have ever had,” Rita Medzadourian told the Cyprus Mail.

On Sunday the Foreign Ministry announced the release of Garabet Jekerjian, 41, who holds both Cypriot and Lebanese citizenship. He had been kidnapped by unknown gunmen on August 21 last year when, disguised as policemen, they broke into his house at night and took him away.

“The Foreign Ministry expresses its satisfaction over the happy ending of the captivity of the Cypriot national as well as appreciation to all those who have helped and especially the government of Lebanon,” a written statement from the Ministry said yesterday.

Jekerjian, who is of Armenian descent was working for Geto Trading Ltd., a Cyprus-based company supplying food and alcoholic drinks to US forces when he was kidnapped. He was finally released in Baghdad on Saturday and taken to the Lebanese embassy from where he phoned his family.

Medzadourian said she did not know when he would be returning to Cyprus. She said she could not confirm reports that he was to travel to Lebanon yesterday. “I don’t have any details. It’s still early in the day. But hopefully soon,” she said.

Jekerjian’s brother Avo told the Associated Press that Garabet was released after the family paid $200,000 in ransom to the kidnappers. He said the company his brother worked for had also contributed, but would not give any further details. The ransom demand had started at $2 million

A group calling itself “Propagation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice Group” posted a video on an Islamic website in September, which showed Jekerjian with one of his kidnappers pointing a gun at his head.
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The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.