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John Howard Wants Phone Call Verified
 PRIME Minister John Howard says he has no independent verification of reports that a Muslim cleric has spoken to Australian hostage Douglas Wood in Iraq. A Sydney spokesman for Australia's Islamic spiritual leader Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilaly has said the sheikh had spoken by telephone to an English speaking man he believed was Mr Wood. Mr Howard said today he had no other information than what was being carried in news reports. "We have no independent verification of that," Mr Howard told ABC radio in Brisbane. "I can't say whether that phone call did come from Mr Wood. My only source of that story is indirectly from the sheik's spokesman in Sydney. I hope that it's true and everybody is working to one objective and that is to try and get this poor man released."Keysar Trad claimed that the Mufti told him an English-speaking man was put on the phone. The Sheik said he then asked: "Hello, who is speaking?" "It's me, Douglas Wood," was the man's reply. Mr Trad said Mr Wood was then taken off the phone and one of the hostage takers promised he would be freed "in the next few days". Sheik Hilaly claimed he also arranged for medication, badly needed by Mr Wood, to be handed over to his militant captors by an intermediary. The kidnappers announced payment for Mr Wood's release would not be necessary. "They said they would release him as a favour to the Muslim people of Australia," Mr Trad said. He said the hostage takers were still working out the logistics of any release and were concerned about the recent botched release of an Italian journalist hostage, who had her car shot up by US soldiers moments after being freed. The militants were unwilling to free two Iraqis snatched at the same time as Mr Wood. Mr Trad said the Sheik was also pressing for their release. It is understood the Sheik informed the Australian response team, sent to Baghdad after Mr Wood was taken hostage, about the phone call. Details of the call have also been relayed to Mr Wood's family waiting for news in Canberra and in the US. Sheik Hilaly flew to Iraq last week in an attempt to secure Mr Wood's release, side-stepping Australian Government efforts to win his freedom. The 63-year-old Australian engineer has been in captivity for almost three weeks, held by a rebel group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq. For about the last 5 days this Shiek has been saying that Douglas Wood will be released in 24 hrs. The Australian community is becomming increasingly weary of his claims. Posted by: Spavirt Pheng6042 2005-05-19 |
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