* Robert Vinton; Had Been Captive in Iraq

Robert Vinton, 58, a business executive who was held in Iraq for nearly four months as a “human shield” after the invasion of Kuwait. Vinton was an executive with a climate-control company in Iraq and was taken captive Aug. 28, 3 1/2 weeks after the Iraqi invasion. He had moved to Baghdad in November, 1989, after 14 years in Saudi Arabia. His wife flew to Iraq in December in an attempt to get her husband out of the country. Iraq’s decision to release the hostages Dec. 9 was announced just as they were reunited in Baghdad. In Santa Fe, N.M., sometime over the weekend of the complications of emphysema.