| CARE International has suspended its operations in Iraq following the kidnapping of its director there, the head of the aid agency's Australian arm said Wednesday. "Our staff are not operating currently there, they're certainly not working there now in light of the current situation," Robert Glasser told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Wednesday. Hassan, who holds British, Irish and Iraqi citizenship and is married to an Iraqi, is among the most widely known humanitarian officials in the Middle East. She is also the most high-profile figure to fall victim to a wave of kidnappings sweeping Iraq in recent months. The Arab television station Al-Jazeera broadcast a brief video on Tuesday showing Hassan, wearing a white blouse and appearing tense, sitting in a room with bare white walls. An editor at the station, based in Qatar, said the tape contained no audio. It did not identify what group was holding her and contained no demand for her release. Hassan, who is in her early 60s, was kidnapped early Tuesday while being driven from her home to CARE's office in a western neighborhood of the capital, a CARE employee said. The employee said the group did not employ armed guards. The organization would not evacuate its staff because of the kidnapping, Glasser said. |