2 Americans Held by Iraqis Are Hospitalized

Two Americans imprisoned in Iraq for the past seven weeks have been hospitalized with chest pains, the State Department said Tuesday.

Spokesman Nicholas Burns said a Polish diplomat who represents U.S. interests in Baghdad has been asked by the Clinton Administration to visit the hospital immediately.

“We believe that on medical grounds alone there is every reason to release these two guys,” Burns said.

The State Department learned about the hospitalizations of William Barloon and David Daliberti from family members.

There was no word on the exact nature of their ailments. Daliberti is known to have a heart condition.

Barloon, 39, and Daliberti, 41, were arrested March 13 after crossing into Iraq from Kuwait, where they worked for U.S. defense contractors. Although they said they had strayed over the border inadvertently, they were sentenced March 25 to eight years in prison.

Until their wives were allowed to visit them at the maximum security Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad on Sunday, the men had had no link to the West for two weeks.

Iraqi authorities allowed Linda Barloon and Kathy Daliberti into the prison for a second visit Monday, but again withheld letters and packages from the men, Burns said.