>wood's release!! a negotiated deal??>, page-21

re:wood's release!! for now what Hi Now what,

You've been quiet for awhile...

I think several things were happening in parallel.

1. There is some money on Hillali inadvertantly and accidentally giving away a murderous scum contact when he first arrived in Iraq. Rumour is technology was involved - probably electronic surveillance. That contact was then placed under surveillance, which led to another contact etc, but it's unclear if Wood's exact whereabouts had been established when he was rescued. He'd been moved a few times.....

2. The Iraqi Forces were doing routine cordon and search ops in the worst parts of Baghdad, backed by by US troops, when they accidently found him.....This is my guess after watching Wood and his rescuers on TV.

3. I have no doubt that the Australian SAS were planning a hot extraction should the need arise. Regardless if Wood's location was know or not - the SAS squads would've been rehearsing several scenarios.

4. The Australians and others were following up intelligence leads from 1 above and other sources. Some Iraqis were under surveillance.

Apart from 1 above, no-one thinks that Hillali's actions had much to do with Wood. Wood was the excuse Hillali used to be in Iraq. Additionally there's a very quiet but persistent rumour that we haven't heard the last of Hillali's adventures in the ME.

Cheers
Lekki