Americans Jailed By Iraq May Be In Hospital

State Department officials believe the two Americans held prisoner in Iraq for crossing into the country from Kuwait have been hospitalized for chest pains, the State Department said Tuesday.

Spokesman Nick Burns said family members of William Barloon and David Daliberti reported to the State Department that the wives of each told them of the condition by telephone. The women are visiting their husbands in Baghdad.

Daliberti, 41, was known to have a heart condition. “We think they have been taken to a hospital,” Burns said.

The men were working in Kuwait under contract with the Defense Department and strayed over the border on March 13. They were arrested, put on trial and sentenced to eight years in prison.

The wives were allowed to visit after a two-week period when Polish diplomats representing the United States have been barred from seeing them. Nancy Barloon and Kathy Daliberti saw the men Monday.

They want to meet with Iraqi officials.