The latest twist in the hostage situation in Iraq, where people of various nationalities have been snatched by Iraqi insurgents and various demands made of their respective governments, is that it looks like one of the current demands is about to be met. Doesn’t this sound really familiar? Anyone around my age will likely remember the hostages held in the Lebanon with alarming regularity in the mid-80s. If you’re a little bit older, you may even remember the US Embassy hostage crisis in Iran near the end of President Carter’s term. Is this history repeating itself?

Also, this morning both the American and British governments claim that the Iraqi authorities’ move to release one of the women prisoners, whose release has been demanded by the kidnappers, is nothing to do with them and has come as a surprise. Is this really a time for the right and left hands to be working without knowledge of what the other is doing?