Journalists 5 days held by Ansar-al Islam in Iraq

Pretty interesting story:

www.espritdecorps.ca...

Here's an excerpt


I did not know it at the time, Zeynep and the UNICEF driver had been set free, while both of them were told that I had been beheaded.
After I picked away at my food, the dishes were cleared away and a heavy set young Arab entered the room. He was grinning from ear to ear and I recognized him as one of my torturers. �I am the lucky one who has been chosen to kill you, American dog,� he said.

It was at this time I decided to play my final card. Zeynep had always told me that I should tell our captors I wished to convert to Islam � even if I wasn�t sincere, she thought it might buy me time (if not freedom). �I want you to teach me an Islamic prayer before you kill me.� I said, �A man about to die should have a God to pray to � shouldn�t he?� Other guards and pupils had overheard this and they seemed excited at the prospect of converting a �Kaffir� and then executing him.

As they started to explain the conversion process and necessary prayers, one of the clerics returned to the house. He put an end to the commotion by informing me my religious conversion was no longer necessary as I was �free to go�. Thinking this may be yet another test of my resolve to convert, I explained that in that case it was even more important, �as a man needs a God to thank for sparing him his life.�

I was advised that the procedure would have to be performed at a later date, as a car was waiting to take me to a safe house in preparation for my release. Once again, I dared to start believing that I might actually survive this ordeal.