
March 31, 2005 - 05:00 AMT

10:59 GMT
Certain facts have been cleared up about the disappearance of our compatriot, citizen of Romania Edward-Ovidiu Hovhannisyan and his two colleagues. According to the information received on Wednesday, terrorists demanded from the Romanian government a ransom of 4 million dollars. However, the main aim of the terrorists is not to earn money but to attract attention to the intention of Romanian authorities to increase Romanian military presence in Iraq. The President of Romania Besesku visited Iraq not long ago. After the trip he made a decision to activate the participation of his country in the anti-terrorist coalition and to increase the number of military contingent.