Freed Italy hostages tell of ordeal

Surgeon Piergiorgio Gamba: "We thought we would die"

• Italy hostages held in Yemen

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ROME, Italy (AP) -- Italian hostages freed after being held for six days by Yemeni kidnappers said Friday they were terrified and humiliated throughout the ordeal, even though they had been treated well.

"It was as if we had been in war," hostage Enzo Bottillo said from the airport in San'a, Yemen, soon after he and four other Italian tourists were freed, the ANSA news agency reported.

"It was very uncomfortable, because after the first day we didn't have our baggage any more. We were very cold," Bottillo said. "Even though formally (we) were treated well, it was a very humiliating situation. Even to go to the bathroom we had to ask permission. And then the bathroom didn't exist."

Hostage Piergiorgio Gamba told ANSA the Italians thought they would die.

"The last night was full of tension," he said. "They intimidated us with the guns to stay on the ground in silence."

Hostage Patrizia Rossi told Italy's SkyTG 24 in a cell phone call from the airport that the liberation went well, although there were "moments of fear, machine guns pointed to us, always threatening."

"When we saw we had been freed, there was a total breakdown," she said, then broke off, too emotional to speak further.

There was no official word on what persuaded the six kidnappers to release the hostages and surrender. But it appeared that their hand was forced by the armed forces, who had surrounded their hideout, and the fact that the chiefs of their tribe opposed the kidnapping.

Early this week, the Yemeni government deployed a large number of troops, backed by helicopters, around the kidnappers and cut off water supplies.

Relatives of the Italians rejoiced.

"We are obviously delighted. It is a day of joy," Maria Giovanna Tonetto, the sister of hostage Maura Tonetto, told The Associated Press by telephone from her home in Padua.

She said she had received a text message from Gamba, her sister's partner, saying he and Maura Tonetto were fine and that they were free.

"We are happy for everything but above all for my father, who at 92 has been particularly worried. This is a great day for his family," she said.

Images of the hostages' return to San'a were played on Italian television, showing tearful and tired Italians embracing each other and Yemeni well-wishers.

Elisabetta Belloni, head of the crisis unit at the Italian Foreign Ministry, said the tourists were freed after an "intense" round of negotiations overnight that averted any use of force.

"Early this morning, the Yemeni government obtained the liberation of the hostages, we understand, through a peaceful intervention, with no force (employed) or shots," she told AP.

Asked about reports in the Italian media that the hostages would return to Italy on Saturday, she said they would return "as soon as possible."

Pope Benedict XVI expressed relief that the five had been freed. "He thanks the Lord for the good outcome of this painful event and unites himself in the joy of the families who can embrace their loved ones soon," papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini sent a message to his Yemeni counterpart, Abubakr al-Qirbi, offering his "most sincere thanks" for bringing about the freedom of the hostages and keeping them safe during their captivity.

"The happy conclusion of this event ... was fruit of the constant efforts of the Yemeni government to blend the primary need of keeping the hostages physically safe with the need to confront the scourge of the kidnappers," the message said.

Fini said the incident had resulted in a strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi also sent his thanks to the Yemeni government for its "valuable help."