Australian hostage freed after 47 days

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi and U.S. forces, acting on a tip, raided a dangerous Sunni neighborhood Wednesday and freed an Australian hostage who was hidden beneath a blanket, officials said. Elsewhere, 33 people died in suicide attacks, including 25 killed when a bomber dressed in Iraqi army uniform blew himself up in a mess hall.

Douglas Wood, a 64-year-old engineer who is a longtime resident of Alamo, Calif., said he was "extremely happy and relieved to be free again," according to a message read by Australia's counterterrorism chief Nick Warner.

Wood emerged from the compound from which he'd been freed wearing a tan dishdasha, or traditional Arabic robe, with his head shaved, looking tired but smiling broadly.

"Wood is now resting comfortably and is in a safe location in Baghdad," said Warner, who added that he spent much of the day with the former captive.

"He's as well as you could expect him to be after enduring 47 days in captivity. At the moment, he's undergoing medical and psychological assessment and he's receiving the best of care," Warner said.

Wood was found under a blanket and the insurgents told troops he was their sick father, said Gen. Naseer al-Abadi, Iraq's deputy chief of staff. The operation also resulted in the arrest of three insurgents and release of an Iraqi hostage.

"This is a great day for Iraq. We are proud of the way our soldiers conducted themselves," al-Abadi said.

Wood was abducted in late April by a militant group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq.

In Khalis, about 45 miles north of Baghdad, the suicide bomber walked into the crowded mess hall wearing an army uniform and waited until soldiers had gathered for lunch before blowing himself up, Iraqi army Col. Saleh al-Obeidi said.

In a separate attack, eight Iraqi policemen were killed when a suicide bomber slammed into two police cars in the capital. Thirteen bystanders also were wounded as the cars burst into flames at the intersection, police said.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack, they bore the hallmarks of Iraq's radical extremist groups -- which regularly use suicide attackers.

Also Wednesday, two former Iraqi military officers -- a father and a son -- with alleged links to al-Qaida were arrested while planting roadside bombs, the Interior Ministry said.

Two Bulgarian soldiers were killed and another injured late Tuesday when their vehicle slid into a canal about 34 miles southeast of Diwaniya, in south-central Iraq, where about 400 Bulgarian soldiers are serving. At least 12 Bulgarian soldiers have died in Iraq.

Iraqi legislators, meanwhile, seemed close to agreement Wednesday on a demand by Sunni Arabs for more participation in drafting a constitution.

Such an agreement would help defuse growing sectarian tension between the majority Shiites, who control the government, and the Sunnis. The minority is thought to make up the core of an insurgency that has killed at least 1,042 people since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's government was announced on April 28.

Insurgents blew up a pipeline near Baghdad late Tuesday that carries crude oil between the domestic refineries of Beiji and Dora, a police officer said. It was still burning Wednesday, he added.

A gunbattle broke out in Baghdad's western Saydiyah neighborhood when gunmen opened fire on a police patrol, police Lt. Mohammed al-Heyali said. One civilian was killed and six police officers were wounded.