Good News

Latest further update on the Douglas Wood saga;

Hopes for the release of Douglas Wood soared yesterday after the hostage was allowed to make a phone call in which he assured the Australian cleric Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly he was alive and well.

"I'm all right," said the hostage of 20 days, before repeating the Arabic term for thank you: "Shukran, shukran." more.

Current Australian prime minister John Howard says;

"We'd all hope that it's right. But we'd also be aware in a situation like this, there are always people who may be representing to [the mufti] things that are not correct."

(Stop laughing, this is not the place to bringing up WMD's, and Doug's life is still at stake).