Eduard (Ovidiu) Ohanesian is a 37-year-old reporter for Romania Libera newspaper. He was seized along with Marie-Jeanne Ion, Sorin Miscoci and Muhammad Munaf shortly after an interview with the interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. The kidnapping is believed to have taken place near the journalists' hotel in the upscale Jadriya district.

On March 30, a video showing the four hostages, flanked by gunmen, was released. No demands were stated.

According to reports, the group decided to release the hostages in response to calls by influential Saudi preacher Salman al-Odeh and Muslims in Romania. The Romanian government has strongly denied that any ransom or concessions in foreign policy were exchanged for the hostages.

After the release of Florence Aubenas and Hussein Al-Saadi, the Romanians diclosed that they had all been held together between April 1 up until the time of the Romanians' release.