Kidnapped aid chief shown on video, distressed and bound

1.00pm - By KIM SENGUPTA in Baghdad


British, American and Iraqi authorities are trying to secure the freedom of Margaret Hassan, the Irish-born aid worker kidnapped in Baghdad.

Within hours of her abduction a videotape was delivered to the Arabic television station al-Jazeera. It showed Mrs Hassan, who is in her 60s, looking distressed, with her hands tied behind her back, in a room with bare white walls.

The video, which also showed her passport, credit cards and identity cards, was delivered by a militant group which claimed responsibility for the abduction, but did not identify itself or issue demands. The authorities in Baghdad said they were deeply worried for Mrs Hassan's safety.

Mrs Hassan, the director of Care International for Iraq for the past 12 years, was abducted by gunmen in west Baghdad as she drove to work just after 7.30am (local time). The organisation does not employ armed guards.

Her fellow workers said there were no warnings that she might be in danger, nor had she expressed any worries.

The kidnapping comes less than two weeks after the beheading of the British contractor Kenneth Bigley, who was held for three weeks by a group believed to be led by the Jordanian-born militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The abduction came as a shock even in Baghdad, a city which has become used to the routine of hostage taking.

Mrs Hassan was a familiar and highly respected figure in Baghdad. She has lived in the country for 30 years with her Iraqi husband, and has dual Iraqi and British nationality.

A Care spokesman said last night: "As far as we know, Margaret is unharmed. She has been providing humanitarian relief to the people of Iraq in a professional career spanning more than 25 years.

"She considers herself an Iraqi national. Iraq is her home, and she never considered coming back to Britain."

Several other women aid workers have been kidnapped in Iraq since the war, but all have been freed. Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both Italian, aged 29 and working for a humanitarian organisation in Baghdad were released, reportedly in return for a ransom, on 28 September. Nahoko Takato, a 34-year-old Japanese, was kidnapped and released along with several Japanese men.

Astrid van Genderen Stort, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said last night in Amman: "We, the UN, decided last year not to have international presence any more because we deemed the situation too dangerous for us. The kidnappings of the Italians only a while ago should have alerted others even more to the dangers of working in Iraq."

A sustained mortar attack on the headquarters of the Iraqi National Guard yesterday morning at Mushahidah, 25 miles north of Baghdad, killed four people and injured more than 80. The troops were lined up for roll call when the mortar rounds hit the base.

Another mortar attack, in central Baghdad, killed an American contractor and injured a US soldier. US warplanes and helicopter gunships carried out another night of air strikes on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah. There were also exchanges during the day with three Humveesset alight in the American ranks by a car bomb.

US Marines clashed with militants in the nearby city of Ramadi where some of the foreign fighters who escaped the US encirclement of Fallujah have supposedly taken refuge. South of Baghdad, US forces arrested nearly 130 suspects in an area near where British forces being sent from Basraare likely to be deployed.

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Herald Feature: Iraq