BOSTON (Reuters) - Iraqi state television has aired video clips put together by the Christian Science Monitor urging the release of its reporter Jill Carroll, less than a week after her captors renewed threats to kill her, the newspaper said on Wednesday.
The Boston-based newspaper said the broadcasts on al-Iraqiya television began airing on Tuesday and included interviews with Iraqis who say they are concerned about her capture and regard the 28-year-old as one of their daughters.
"We've tried to get information out in Baghdad," said David Cook, Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor. "This is one more way for us to communicate with the people in the city, in essence saying 'please help us find Jill'."
The video-tape was produced by the Monitor in Baghdad in two versions. A one-minute spot includes an excerpt from a CNN interview that shows Carroll's mother, Mary Beth Carroll, appealing for her release.
A 90-second version includes an appeal from Adnan al-Dulaimi, the Sunni Arab politician Carroll had arranged to interview on January 7 when she was abducted in Baghdad by militants who also killed her Iraqi interpreter.
In the video, Dulaimi speaks of how deeply distressed he has been by Carroll's abduction, the newspaper said.
It was unclear how long the appeals would be aired. "We expect them to have an indefinite run," said Cook.
Carroll's captors have set a new deadline of February 26 for their demands to be met or they would kill her, according to Kuwait's private Al Rai TV, which last week aired a video of Carroll appealing for help.
In response to a question from Reuters, Al Rai chairman Jassem Boodai declined last Friday to specify the kidnappers' demands. In previous videos, Carroll has said her captors are demanding that all female prisoners in Iraq be freed.
