Couple fret as son kidnapped in Iraq

By AINSLEY THOMSON


The first an elderly Tauranga couple knew of their son's kidnapping in Iraq was when a friend called from Australia after seeing his face on the television news.


Although Jim and Betty Roper were aware their cameraman son Maurice was working in Iraq for American broadcaster NBC, they did not know the 47-year-old had been kidnapped on May 25 by armed Iraqis.

"It was shattering, you have no idea," Mr Roper said. "Your babies never stop being your babies."

The couple rang their son's wife, Heather, in California, who confirmed the kidnapping. She said she had not wanted to worry them until she had definite information.

The Ropers, who are both in their 70s, felt powerless to help their son.

They knew only that he had been detained near Fallujah with NBC correspondent Ned Colt, soundman Robert Colville and Iraqi freelance journalist Ashraf Al Taie.


Desperate for information, Mr Roper went to his step-brother for help.

"I told him about it and he has one of those computer gadgets and we got all the information through that. That's how we found all the bits and pieces."

After two days of waiting and gleaning small details off the internet, the Ropers heard from their daughter-in-law, who told them that Maurice had been freed after three days in captivity.

NBC said it did not release details of the capture for security reasons.

US Marines had warned the journalists that Fallujah was dangerous, but they had gone there anyway. It is understood they were released after community leaders in the city intervened.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jonathan Schwass said it heard about Maurice Roper via New Zealand's High Commission in Canberra soon after the kidnapping.

"We were told that there was a New Zealander among those taken.

"It wasn't until the next morning that we were advised of his name and told that he was a long-term US resident."

By the time the ministry had established that Mr Roper still held a current New Zealand passport, he had been freed.

Mrs Roper said her son had rung a number of times since he arrived back in the US - his home for the past 15 years.

It was not the first time their son's job had led him into danger - he was a cameraman in Bosnia and the Gulf War and had been wounded in Haiti.

Herald Feature: Iraq