Black Dragon
Member
Thoughts for her family and the families of all our military over there.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Al-Jazeera television said Tuesday it received a videotape showing the slaying of a woman believed to be hostage Margaret Hassan, the longtime director of CARE in Iraq. Hassan's family in London said they believed she was dead.
CARE said in a statement, "It is with profound sadness that we have learned of the existence of a video in which it appears that our colleague Margaret Hassan has been killed. ... The whole of CARE is in mourning."
The 59-year-old Briton was abducted in Baghdad on Oct. 19, the most prominent of more than 170 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq this year. Her captors later issued videos showing her pleading for Britain to withdraw its troops from Iraq and calling for the release of female Iraqi prisoners.
The Arabic-language TV network said it would not broadcast the footage.
"We don't show acts of killing," said Jihad Ballout, Al-Jazeera spokesman. "We've never done it before, outside war."
Her four brothers and sisters said they believe Hassan is dead.
"Our hearts are broken," they said in a statement. "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."
The family did not indicate why they now believed Hassan was dead, but said: "Those who are guilty of this atrocious act, and those who support them, have no excuses."
On Sunday, U.S. Marines found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman on a street in a Fallujah during the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold. Besides Hassan, the only Western woman known held was Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, a Polish-born longtime resident of Iraq who was seized last month.
Al-Jazeera reported on Nov. 2 that Hassan's captors had threatened to turn her over to followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Al-Zarqawi and his men have been blamed for numerous deadly car bombings and the slayings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton. More than 170 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq this year; more than 30 of them have been slain.
Born in Ireland, Hassan also held British and Iraqi citizenship. She lived in Iraq for 30 years and married an Iraqi.
In its statement, her family said: "Nobody can justify this. Margaret was against sanctions and the war. To commit such a crime against anyone is unforgivable. But we cannot believe how anybody could do this to our kind, compassionate sister.
"The gap she leaves will never be filled."
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Al-Jazeera television said Tuesday it received a videotape showing the slaying of a woman believed to be hostage Margaret Hassan, the longtime director of CARE in Iraq. Hassan's family in London said they believed she was dead.
CARE said in a statement, "It is with profound sadness that we have learned of the existence of a video in which it appears that our colleague Margaret Hassan has been killed. ... The whole of CARE is in mourning."
The 59-year-old Briton was abducted in Baghdad on Oct. 19, the most prominent of more than 170 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq this year. Her captors later issued videos showing her pleading for Britain to withdraw its troops from Iraq and calling for the release of female Iraqi prisoners.
The Arabic-language TV network said it would not broadcast the footage.
"We don't show acts of killing," said Jihad Ballout, Al-Jazeera spokesman. "We've never done it before, outside war."
Her four brothers and sisters said they believe Hassan is dead.
"Our hearts are broken," they said in a statement. "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."
The family did not indicate why they now believed Hassan was dead, but said: "Those who are guilty of this atrocious act, and those who support them, have no excuses."
On Sunday, U.S. Marines found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman on a street in a Fallujah during the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold. Besides Hassan, the only Western woman known held was Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, a Polish-born longtime resident of Iraq who was seized last month.
Al-Jazeera reported on Nov. 2 that Hassan's captors had threatened to turn her over to followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Al-Zarqawi and his men have been blamed for numerous deadly car bombings and the slayings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton. More than 170 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq this year; more than 30 of them have been slain.
Born in Ireland, Hassan also held British and Iraqi citizenship. She lived in Iraq for 30 years and married an Iraqi.
In its statement, her family said: "Nobody can justify this. Margaret was against sanctions and the war. To commit such a crime against anyone is unforgivable. But we cannot believe how anybody could do this to our kind, compassionate sister.
"The gap she leaves will never be filled."