Tarongoy ransom: $12M Plus release of 4 Iraqi prisoners

THE suspected Iraqi insurgents have demanded the release of Abu Ghraib prisoners and a huge ransom in exchange for the freedom of an American and a Filipino taken hostage last week in Baghdad, Philippine officials said Tuesday.

Gunmen on November 1 seized the Filipino accountant Robert Tarongoy, an unidentified American, a Nepalese and three Iraqis from the compound of a Saudi-based company that caters food to American troops. Two of the Iraqi hostages and the Nepalese have been freed.