Why we support the Iraqi resistance
John Roy | 17.11.2004 06:10 | London
A blindfolded woman, believed to be Margaret Hassan, was filmed begging for her life before passing out and being revived by a bucket of cold water.
The CARE aid director's abduction shocked even battle-hardened Iraqis and al Jazeera television refused to air the video because it was too distressing.
In the video, a hooded militant shoots the woman, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, in the head. There is no accompanying sound.
The TV network said it received the tape a few days ago, and it was not clear when the murder took place.
In London, Britain's Foreign Office said it reviewed the video and believed the woman shown "probably" was Hassan, CARE International's chief in Iraq, a position funded by CARE Australia.
The 59-year-old was born in Ireland and held British, Irish and Iraqi citizenship.
"Our hearts are broken," her family in Britain said in a message.
"We have kept hoping for as long as we could, but we now have to accept that Margaret has probably gone and at last her suffering has ended."
Though other women have been abducted in Iraq, Hassan would be the only woman among more than 30 foreign hostages to be killed since the spate of kidnappings began in April. Almost all of the captive men were beheaded.
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AdvertisementHassan lived in Iraq for more than 30 years. She was married to an Iraqi and converted to Islam, making her an unlikely target of the militants.
She was abducted a month ago in Baghdad as she drove to her job as director of Iraq operations for the international aid agency CARE, where she spent much of her life caring for the needs of impoverished Iraqis.
"Mrs Hassan was an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to the poor and disadvantaged in Iraq, particularly the children," said CARE, which suspended its operations in Iraq after the abduction.
"Margaret dedicated her life to helping the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Iraq and her kidnapping and probable murder are most heinous and inexcusable crimes," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
Hassan appeared to have been kidnapped by a particularly radical group that failed to heed wide appeals for her release - even from America's most wanted terrorist leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, himself a notorious kidnapper.
Last week, Zarqawi said Hassan should be freed unless she was proved to be a spy.
"In true Islam, they don't kill women and young children," he said in a statement posted on the internet.
Earlier, Hassan's kidnappers, who never identified themselves, threatened to hand her over to Zarqawi's group unless Britain withdrew its forces from Iraq.
Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant who recently renamed his group "al-Qaeda in Iraq" began in May to behead hostages and post videotapes of the executions online.
Since the first such beheading, of young American businessman Nicholas Berg, videos of dozens of beheadings have either been made available on the internet or given to Arabic TV stations.
Zarqawi was one of the main targets of the US-led assault on Fallujah, where US forces are winding down a 10 day operation to retake the rebel city.
So far, however, it appears few foreigners are among more than 1,000 alleged insurgents captured in the assault.
US officials said the operation was aimed at rooting out the terrorist organisations blamed not only for the kidnappings but the daily car bombings that are causing misery for ordinary Iraqis.
Pentagon officials in Washington indicated yesterday that about 20 foreigners were among the detainees. Zarqawi was not among them, and though it is believed he had at one point made his headquarters in Falluja, it appears he fled the city before the operation.
The Iraqi government said that six leading members of a resistance group called the Army of Mohammed were among those captured. All of them were Iraqis, said Interior Minister Falah Al-Nakib.
US forces discovered what they called a hostage slaughterhouse, a small Fallujah home in which they found blood-soaked mattresses, documents belonging to foreigners and a banner reading "the Islamic Secret Army of Iraq," similar to banners seen in some execution videos.
They also discovered the mutilated body of what appeared to be a foreign woman in her 50s with long blond hair, left on a street in Fallujah. Only one other woman, a Pole in her 50s, is known to be in captivity, but the Polish embassy said she was not the woman found.
Two Italian aid workers seized in September were the first women to be kidnapped in Iraq, but they were freed three weeks later, allegedly after the Italian government paid a large ransom.
KRT
In the video, a hooded militant shoots the woman, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, in the head. There is no accompanying sound.
The TV network said it received the tape a few days ago, and it was not clear when the murder took place.
In London, Britain's Foreign Office said it reviewed the video and believed the woman shown "probably" was Hassan, CARE International's chief in Iraq, a position funded by CARE Australia.
The 59-year-old was born in Ireland and held British, Irish and Iraqi citizenship.
"Our hearts are broken," her family in Britain said in a message.
"We have kept hoping for as long as we could, but we now have to accept that Margaret has probably gone and at last her suffering has ended."
Though other women have been abducted in Iraq, Hassan would be the only woman among more than 30 foreign hostages to be killed since the spate of kidnappings began in April. Almost all of the captive men were beheaded.
Advertisement
AdvertisementHassan lived in Iraq for more than 30 years. She was married to an Iraqi and converted to Islam, making her an unlikely target of the militants.
She was abducted a month ago in Baghdad as she drove to her job as director of Iraq operations for the international aid agency CARE, where she spent much of her life caring for the needs of impoverished Iraqis.
"Mrs Hassan was an extraordinary woman who dedicated her life to the poor and disadvantaged in Iraq, particularly the children," said CARE, which suspended its operations in Iraq after the abduction.
"Margaret dedicated her life to helping the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Iraq and her kidnapping and probable murder are most heinous and inexcusable crimes," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
Hassan appeared to have been kidnapped by a particularly radical group that failed to heed wide appeals for her release - even from America's most wanted terrorist leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, himself a notorious kidnapper.
Last week, Zarqawi said Hassan should be freed unless she was proved to be a spy.
"In true Islam, they don't kill women and young children," he said in a statement posted on the internet.
Earlier, Hassan's kidnappers, who never identified themselves, threatened to hand her over to Zarqawi's group unless Britain withdrew its forces from Iraq.
Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant who recently renamed his group "al-Qaeda in Iraq" began in May to behead hostages and post videotapes of the executions online.
Since the first such beheading, of young American businessman Nicholas Berg, videos of dozens of beheadings have either been made available on the internet or given to Arabic TV stations.
Zarqawi was one of the main targets of the US-led assault on Fallujah, where US forces are winding down a 10 day operation to retake the rebel city.
So far, however, it appears few foreigners are among more than 1,000 alleged insurgents captured in the assault.
US officials said the operation was aimed at rooting out the terrorist organisations blamed not only for the kidnappings but the daily car bombings that are causing misery for ordinary Iraqis.
Pentagon officials in Washington indicated yesterday that about 20 foreigners were among the detainees. Zarqawi was not among them, and though it is believed he had at one point made his headquarters in Falluja, it appears he fled the city before the operation.
The Iraqi government said that six leading members of a resistance group called the Army of Mohammed were among those captured. All of them were Iraqis, said Interior Minister Falah Al-Nakib.
US forces discovered what they called a hostage slaughterhouse, a small Fallujah home in which they found blood-soaked mattresses, documents belonging to foreigners and a banner reading "the Islamic Secret Army of Iraq," similar to banners seen in some execution videos.
They also discovered the mutilated body of what appeared to be a foreign woman in her 50s with long blond hair, left on a street in Fallujah. Only one other woman, a Pole in her 50s, is known to be in captivity, but the Polish embassy said she was not the woman found.
Two Italian aid workers seized in September were the first women to be kidnapped in Iraq, but they were freed three weeks later, allegedly after the Italian government paid a large ransom.
KRT
John Roy