Wives Succeed in Visiting 2 Americans Imprisoned in Iraq

Two American women had a tearful reunion with their husbands, imprisoned near here for illegally entering Iraq, and said the men are hoping for an early release.

“I cannot begin to say how good it was to see my husband, and I know that Kathy feels the same way,” Linda Barloon told Cable News Network after she and Kathy Daliberti were allowed into the Abu Ghraib maximum-security prison Sunday.

“It was a reunion full of tearful emotions.”

Before the visit, William Barloon, 39, and David Daliberti, 41, had had no link to the outside world for two weeks.

The men were arrested March 13 after crossing into Iraq from Kuwait. On March 25, they were sentenced to eight years in prison. The men, employees of U.S. defense contractors in Kuwait, say they strayed across the border inadvertently.

Both wives said that, like their husbands, they are hoping for the men’s quick release. In past instances involving Westerners jailed for similar offenses, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has granted clemency after pleas from Western government officials.

The women met with their husbands in a prison meeting room.

Asked how her husband, who has a heart condition, was doing, Mrs. Daliberti told CNN: “Considering the circumstances, he looked OK. . . . We are always hopeful.”

Mrs. Barloon said that her husband “has lost a lot of weight. (He’s) a little bit pale, but I think that this would be expected under the circumstances. Overall, their health seemed fairly good today.”

The Iraqi government, which had earlier prevented reporters from meeting the women, delayed satellite transmission of the CNN interview until Monday. There was no official explanation for the delay.