According to the official version, Australian hostage Douglas Wood was set free on June 14, 2005 by the Iraq forces near Baghdad, as a result of a routine control. In an ordinary statement, basically identical to that of the rest of the governments under similar circumstances, the Australian authorities asserted that they had neither paid the ransom nor made any kind of political concessions.
By the end of 2003, 203 foreigners had been taken hostages in Iraq, either for mean or political reasons. Of them, 33 were murdered, some in a sordid manner; 85 released; 3 escaped and two were rescued.