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'I'm safe': Grandfather taken hostage by Iraqis sends joyful 'freedom' message to his family via Skype
- Brock Fettes, 65, was taken hostage on oil platform in Iraq with 140 others
- He kept his wife Rosie informed by email to let her know he was safe
- Hostages were released today after three days in captivity
By Emily Davies
PUBLISHED:11:08 EST, 1 April 2013| UPDATED:11:24 EST, 1 April 2013
Grandfather-of-two Brock Fettes was held captive on the HKN Energy platform in Iraq for three days and used Skype to keep in touch with his family
Three Scots oil workers held hostage on a platform in Iraq have been released today.
The men were among 140 staff held captive after the HKN Energy rig was stormed by an armed gang on Friday.
The rig was shut down and the gang demanded a $1million ransom in return for the release of the oil workers.
Father-of-four Brock Fettes, from Insch, Aberdeenshire, was one of three Scottish workers who were held captive on the onshore platform.
The 65-year-old Schlumberger engineer kept his family up-to-date through emails and Skype over the weekend.
His 54-year-old wife, Rosie Wilson-Leagas, anxiously waited at home for news of her husband as the situation unfolded.
Today she spoke of her relief after finding out her husband had been released from captivity.
She said: ‘It's good news. I am happy that he is safe. He was concerned.
'It's stressful when you want to leave somewhere and you can't.
‘He was not due to come home for another 10 days. He was worried that this would escalate and he would be stuck there.
‘I spoke to him yesterday evening and he was doing fine. They've managed to keep everything as normal as they can.’
Mr Fettes informed his family two graduates from Aberdeen University, who are working as consultants for the HKN oil firm, were also taken captive.
One of them is thought to be from Orkney.
The directional engineer told his family before he was released that staff had about four days supply left of food, water and diesel.
Rosie Wilson-Leagas was kept informed by email from her husband Brock Fettes while he was kept hostage
He said: ‘The local villagers came to the rig heavily armed and made us shut the rig down.
‘They have taken over the checkpoint leading to the rig, which is about 1,500ft away, and are not allowing any workers in or out.
‘They are demanding money from the oil company, and the company, I think, are going to pay them.
‘The situation will obviously be resolved if they pay them but, until then, we are being held hostage.
‘This is one of the safer areas of Iraq but it is still fairly lawless. The locals control the area.
‘My concern is this happening again. If they get paid off this time, it will become the national sport for villagers to target oil rigs. They will all be doing it.’
Ms Wilson-Leagas said her husband had been travelling to Kurdistan for the last four years and his latest trip was only meant to last four weeks.
The grandfather-of-two has worked in troubled countries for many years but had never been faced with danger before.
Ms Wilson-Leagas said one of his four children, Brock Junior, is following his dad into the industry and spent three months gaining work experience on the same rig in October last year.
She said she was now planning to cook a family dinner to welcome her husband home and to celebrate his birthday next week.
Yesterday the Foreign Office confirmed that the Kurdistan incident had now come to an end.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an incident involving British nationals but that has now been resolved.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2302369/Brock-Fettes-Grandfather-taken-hostage-Iraqis-days-uses-Skype-tell-family-release.html#ixzz2PFOMyR00
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