May 02, 2004

An American kidnapped in Iraq three weeks ago is now a free man. Thomas Hamill, 43, of Macon, Mississippi, a civilian working as a truck driver for an American contractor in Iraq was captured last month during an insurgent attack on his convoy.

Hamill was picked up today by American soldiers on patrol south of Tikrit. "Mr Hamill apparently escaped from a building," said U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmett during a news conference Sunday morning. Kimmett says Hamill approached American soldiers patrolling an oil pipeline and identified himself.

Hamill then led the soldiers to a house where he had been held captive. Maj. Neal O'Brien said two Iraqis with an automatic weapon were captured.

Hamill's kidnappers released a video of him one day after his abduction, demanding American forces end their siege of the city of Fallujah.