Douglas Wood is a 63-year-old nuclear engineer and businessman. He founded a company called International Projeckts Management in 1996. An Australian by birth, he has been based in California for 15 years and entered Iraq in mid-2004. He was seized along with business associates Adel Farhaway Najm and Faris Shakir. A video showing Mr. Woods with automatic weapons pointed at his head was delivered to new agencies on May 1.

He was initially reported to have been rescued in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation, but it emerged later that an Iraqi Army patrol had entered the house on a routine check and happened upon the ailing hostage.

Since his release, Mr. Wood has found himself in the middle of much controversy due to accusations of financial wrongdoing and bribe-offering from a former business associate, as well as by statements, quickly retracted, hinting at a potential return to Iraq. He has also been criticized by the families of Mr. Shakir and Mr. Najm.