Two American Prisoners In Iraq Ailing; Wives Visit

The wives of two American prisoners visited them in jail Thursday, but there was no Iraqi response to an appeal from Washington to free the men on medical grounds.

For the first time, however, Iraqi media reported that William Barloon, 39, of Jacksonville, Fla., and David Daliberti, 41, of New Hampton, Iowa, have been ailing.

Barloon and Daliberti were arrested March 13 after they had crossed into Iraq from Kuwait, where they were working for U.S. defense contractors. They were convicted March 25 and given eight-year prison sentences despite their insistence they had strayed accidentally across the border.

The State Department said Wednesday that the two men have medical problems that require their release on humanitarian grounds.

Daliberti is known to have a heart ailment. This week, Barloon was treated for sharp chest pains with nitroglycerin tablets and oxygen and was given electrocardiogram tests that disclosed possible scarring, the State Department said.

The prisoners’ wives, who arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to plead for their husbands’ release, told Cable News Network after Thursday’s visit that Barloon felt stabbing pains in his chest Monday night and was taken to the prison clinic, where he was given an electrocardiogram.

Tuesday morning, Barloon did not have any pain when his wife, Linda, came to see him, but after lunch, he felt dizzy. His condition worsened, and prison doctors granted Linda Barloon’s request that he be taken to an outside hospital.

Daliberti was allowed to go along to the Baghdad hospital, where he was tested as well.