Wives Of Captured Pair Reach Baghdad

The wives of two Americans imprisoned in Iraq arrived in Baghdad late Saturday to appeal for their husbands’ release. Iraqi officials imposed a news blackout on the mercy mission and refused to allow reporters to meet with the women.

Linda Barloon, 37, and Kathy Daliberti, 39, were told they would be allowed to visit their husbands in the maximum-security Abu Graib prison, just outside Baghdad. But no time had been set and there had been no indication the trip could result in the men being released.

Iraq wants to keep the event low-key, fearing the United States will use it to criticize Iraq’s human rights record.

William Barloon, 39, and David Daliberti, 41, were arrested by Iraqi border guards after straying across the Kuwait border March 13. They were convicted of entering Iraq without permission and sentenced to eight years in prison on March 25.

The two women declined to discuss what they planned to do in Iraq to push for their husbands’ release.