"She is not your enemy," Jim Carroll said in a CNN interview broadcast Sunday night.

"Jill started to tell your story, so please, let her finish it," he said in a statement. "Through the media, if necessary, advise her family and me of how we might initiate a dialogue that will lead to her release."

He said his daughter is "honest, sincere and of good heart" and has great respect for the Iraqi people. "When you release her alive, she will tell your story with that same conviction," he added.

There was no word Monday on Jill Carroll's condition. In Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi authorities conducted joint operations in an intensive effort to free the 28-year-old freelance journalist, who was abducted Jan. 7 in Baghdad.

She has not been heard of since her kidnappers released a videotape that was first aired on Jan. 17. It was accompanied by a threat that she would be killed if U.S. forces did not release all Iraqi women in military custody.

Iraqi Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim Ali said six of the nine women were expected to be freed later this week as part of a routine release planned before the kidnappers' ultimatum. But he believed the U.S. military was wary about the releases being seen as part of a swap for Carroll.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the efforts to free Carroll, said American authorities refuse to negotiate with hostage-takers.

"But we are using the full resources available from the U.S. law enforcement and diplomatic side, plus the cooperation of the Iraqi government, to secure Jill's freedom," the official said.

Jim Carroll said he was "very encouraged" by the support for his daughter and his family's plight.

"We're getting by," he said. "It is very difficult, as you might imagine. But, again, the amount of support from family, friends, and total strangers around the world sending us messages of support and all of their prayers has been very encouraging."

More than 250 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq, either by insurgents or gangs, since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam. At least 39 have been killed.

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