Hostage Rescued; Bombs Kill 33
25 Killed At Iraqi Army Base Restaurant; Australian Freed In Raid
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Play CBS Video Video Hostage Freed In Iraq Suicide bombings and other attacks killed more than 50 people in Iraq, but there was one bit of good news, as a hostage was freed after six weeks of captivity. Kimberly Dozier reports.
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Video Iraq Hostage Talks Release CBS News RAW: Douglas Wood, a 64-year-old engineer and Alamo, Calif. resident, was elated to share his story of how being hostage release in Iraq. Courtesy of DVIDS.
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Video Iraq Hostage Released California resident and Australian native, Douglas Wood, has been released after being held captive for 47 days in Iraq. CBS News' Aleen Sirgany reports from Washington, D.C.
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Aftermath of car bomb blast in Baghdad that killed eight policemen. (AP)
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Photo provided by Australia's counterterrorism chief Nick Warner, shows former Australian hostage Douglas Wood sitting in the back of a coalition military vehicle immediately after his rescue. (AP)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
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Interactive Saddam's Judgment Background on the former Iraqi leader's alleged crimes, his life and capture, plus video and photos.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Khalis attack, it bore the hallmarks of Iraq's radical extremist groups — which regularly use suicide attackers.
In one such attack Tuesday in northern Kirkuk, a man wearing a similar belt loaded with explosives killed 23 people and wounded nearly 100 after striking outside a bank as retirees waited to cash their pension checks.
Al Qaeda's northern affiliate, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, claimed responsibility and threatened more violence in retaliation for the arrests and killings of Sunni Arabs.
Wood was freed by the Iraqi army's 2nd battalion, 1st Armored Brigade, with assistance by U.S. forces in Ghazaliya — one of the most dangerous Sunni Arab neighborhood of Baghdad, Warner said. He added that "no ransom was paid" despite a request for a "very large" amount of money.
Wood was found under a blanket and the insurgents told troops he was their sick father, said Gen. Naseer al-Abadi, Iraq's deputy chief of staff. The operation also resulted in the arrest of three insurgents and release of an Iraqi hostage.
"This is a great day for Iraq. We are proud of the way our soldiers conducted themselves," al-Abadi said.
Wood was abducted in late April by a militant group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq.
The Australian government refused to bend to the kidnappers' demands that its 1,400 troops be withdrawn from Iraq. It sent diplomats, police and military personnel to Baghdad to seek his release.
"I am delighted to inform the House that the Australian hostage in Iraq, Mr. Douglas Wood, is safe," Prime Minister John Howard told Parliament in Canberra, Australia.
Howard told reporters an Iraqi military unit, in cooperation with U.S. forces, rescued Wood.
© MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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