THE US-led offensive on the Iraqi city of Fallujah could have been the final straw that led to the execution of CARE Australia's Baghdad chief, Margaret Hassan.
| Or she could have been toast when the Lions of Islam kidnapped her... |
| ... not that they needed any excuse, being defenders of the faith and all ... |
Ms Hassan's death was made public early yesterday when Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera revealed it had received a video showing a militant firing a pistol into the head of a blindfolded woman wearing an orange jumpsuit. Ms Hassan's kidnapping on October 19, as she drove to CARE's offices in Baghdad, was part of a string of kidnappings by insurgents and Islamists designed to drive out Coalition forces. The unnamed group later released several videos to Al-Jazeera in which Ms Hassan pleaded for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq and the release of Iraqi women from prison.
Al-Jazeera did not air the latest execution video but the Scotland Yard counter-terrorism squad the British deployed to Iraq was able to identify Ms Hassan by her height and identifiable markings after watching the video. The director of terrorism studies at the Australian National University, Clive Williams, said yesterday that negotiators in Iraq might have had a chance to secure her release if the US had held off their onslaught in Fallujah. Yesterday it emerged that Scotland Yard believed there was a genuine chance of securing Mrs Hassan's release when an unnamed group holding her threatened to hand her over to terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been responsible for grisly beheadings of Westerners in Iraq. Surprisingly, the Jordanian-born terrorist responded with a statement that if Mrs Hassan - who worked tirelessly to help her fellow Iraqis over 30 years - was handed over to him he would immediately release her. |