Kidnappers Have Private Prisons Patrick

Kidnappers have Private Prisons

Patrick Cockburn reports from Iraq that the wave of kidnappings that began last summer has not subsided. Rather, it has become a crime of choice among Iraq’s many gangsters (estimated to number tens of thousands), and Cockburn say some now maintain their own private prisons to keep the hostages until ransom is paid.

Unemployment is a big contributor to the continued crime wave sweeping Iraq. Some estimate the rate as high as 70%, according to az-Zaman.