Channeling the spirit of Charles Bronson

Yesterday we noted that Ulf Hjertström, the sexagenarian Swede who survived a 67-day kidnapping ordeal in Baghdad, reportedly was paying professional bounty hunters a handsome fee to track down his erstwhile captors. Expressen, a Swedish tabloid, picked up the story and got in touch with Hjertström to get the lowdown.

Hjertström, an oil broker whose career took him to Iraq 25 years ago, makes no bones about the decision to exact revenge on his abductors. “I’ve lived [in Iraq] for a long time. This is how things are done there. It’s nothing new to me,” he says.

Hearty Hjertström “doesn’t want to go into detail” about the bounty hunters, but assures Expressen that they are “the best money can buy.”

“They’re not twiddling their thumbs,” declares Hjertström, revealing that he has “received confirmation that two of [the kidnappers] have already been taken care of.” When asked to elaborate on the fate of the purportedly captured men, the Swede says he “hasn’t inquired” but has his “suspicions.”

Many in Sweden have expressed shock and dismay at Hjertström’s eye-for-an-eye approach. But the plucky pensioner claims that revenge is not his primary motive. “I just want the people of Baghdad to feel safe on the streets.”

Giuliana Sgrena could not be reached for comment