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Robert Fisk: Who killed Margaret Hassan?
Who killed Margaret Hassan? ...that is the question that her friends - and, quite possibly, the Iraqi insurgents - will be asking... She hated the UN sanctions and opposed the Anglo-American invasion.
...let's remember the other, earlier videos...there were none of the usual Islamic banners. There were none of the usual armed and hooded men. No Koranic recitations.
And when it percolated through to Fallujah and Ramadi that the mere act of kidnapping Margaret Hassan was close to heresy, the combined resistance groups of Fallujah - and the message genuinely came from them - demanded her release. So, incredibly, did Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
Other abducted women...were freed when their captors recognised their innocence. But not Margaret Hassan, even though she spoke fluent Arabic and could explain her work to her captors in their own language.
So, if anyone doubted the murderous nature of the insurgents, what better way to prove their viciousness than to produce evidence of Margaret Hassan's murder? What more ruthless way could there be of demonstrating to the world that America and Allawi's tinpot army were fighting "evil" in Fallujah and the other Iraqi cities...
Even in the topsy-turvy world of Iraq, nobody is suggesting that people associated with the government of Mr Allawi had a hand in Margaret Hassan's death.
But still the question has to be answered: who killed Margaret Hassan?
...let's remember the other, earlier videos...there were none of the usual Islamic banners. There were none of the usual armed and hooded men. No Koranic recitations.
And when it percolated through to Fallujah and Ramadi that the mere act of kidnapping Margaret Hassan was close to heresy, the combined resistance groups of Fallujah - and the message genuinely came from them - demanded her release. So, incredibly, did Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
Other abducted women...were freed when their captors recognised their innocence. But not Margaret Hassan, even though she spoke fluent Arabic and could explain her work to her captors in their own language.
So, if anyone doubted the murderous nature of the insurgents, what better way to prove their viciousness than to produce evidence of Margaret Hassan's murder? What more ruthless way could there be of demonstrating to the world that America and Allawi's tinpot army were fighting "evil" in Fallujah and the other Iraqi cities...
Even in the topsy-turvy world of Iraq, nobody is suggesting that people associated with the government of Mr Allawi had a hand in Margaret Hassan's death.
But still the question has to be answered: who killed Margaret Hassan?
17 November 2004
Who killed Margaret Hassan? After the grief, the astonishment, heartbreak, anger and fury over the apparent murder of such a good and saintly woman, that is the question that her friends - and, quite possibly, the Iraqi insurgents - will be asking. This Anglo-Irish lady held an Iraqi passport. She had lived in Iraq for 30 years, she had dedicated her life to the welfare of Iraqis in need. She hated the UN sanctions and opposed the Anglo-American invasion. So who killed Margaret Hassan?
Of course, those of us who knew her will reflect on the appalling implications of the video tape which, so her husband believes, is evidence of her death. If Margaret Hassan can be kidnapped and murdered, how much further can we fall into the Iraqi pit? There are no barriers, no frontiers of immorality left. What price is innocence now worth in the anarchy that we have brought to Iraq? The answer is simple: nothing.
I remember her arguing with doctors and truck drivers when a lorryload of medicines arrived for children's cancer wards - courtesy of Independent readers - in 1998. She smiled, cajoled, pleaded to get these leukaemia drugs to Basra and Mosul. She would not have wished to be called an angel - Margaret didn't like clichés. Even now I want to write "doesn't like clichés"; are we really permitted to say that she is dead? For the bureaucrats and the Western leaders who will today express their outrage and sorrow at her reported death, she had nothing but scorn.
Yes, she knew the risks. Margaret Hassan was well aware that many Iraqi women had been kidnapped, raped, ransomed or murdered by the Baghdad mafia. Because she is a Western woman - the first Western woman to be abducted and apparently murdered - we forget how many Iraqi women have already suffered this terrible fate. They go largely unreported in a world which counts dead American soldiers, but ignores fatalities among those with darker skins and browner eyes and a different religion, whom we claimed to have liberated.
And now let's remember the other, earlier videos. Margaret Hassan crying, Margaret Hassan fainting, Margaret Hassan having water thrown over her face to revive her, Margaret Hassan crying again, pleading for the withdrawal of the Black Watch from the Euphrates river basin. In the background of these appalling pictures, there were none of the usual Islamic banners. There were none of the usual armed and hooded men. No Koranic recitations.
And when it percolated through to Fallujah and Ramadi that the mere act of kidnapping Margaret Hassan was close to heresy, the combined resistance groups of Fallujah - and the message genuinely came from them - demanded her release. So, incredibly, did Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qa'ida man whom the Americans falsely claimed to be leading the Iraqi insurrection - but who has very definitely been involved in kidnapping and beheading foreigners.
Other abducted women - the two Italian aid workers, for example - were freed when their captors recognised their innocence. But not Margaret Hassan, even though she spoke fluent Arabic and could explain her work to her captors in their own language.
There was one mysterious video that floated to the surface this year, a group of armed men promising to seize Zarqawi, claiming he was anti-Iraqi, politely referring to the occupation armies as "the coalition forces''. This was quickly nicknamed the "Allawi tape": after the US-appointed, ex-CIA agent and ex-Baathist who holds the title of "interim Prime Minister" in Iraq, the same Allawi who fatuously claimed there were no civilian deaths in Fallujah.
So, if anyone doubted the murderous nature of the insurgents, what better way to prove their viciousness than to produce evidence of Margaret Hassan's murder? What more ruthless way could there be of demonstrating to the world that America and Allawi's tinpot army were fighting "evil" in Fallujah and the other Iraqi cities that are now controlled by Washington's enemies.
Even in the topsy-turvy world of Iraq, nobody is suggesting that people associated with the government of Mr Allawi had a hand in Margaret Hassan's death. Iraq, after all, is awash with up to 20 insurgent groups but also with rival gangs of criminals seeking to extort money from hostage-taking.
But still the question has to be answered: who killed Margaret Hassan?
Who killed Margaret Hassan? After the grief, the astonishment, heartbreak, anger and fury over the apparent murder of such a good and saintly woman, that is the question that her friends - and, quite possibly, the Iraqi insurgents - will be asking. This Anglo-Irish lady held an Iraqi passport. She had lived in Iraq for 30 years, she had dedicated her life to the welfare of Iraqis in need. She hated the UN sanctions and opposed the Anglo-American invasion. So who killed Margaret Hassan?
Of course, those of us who knew her will reflect on the appalling implications of the video tape which, so her husband believes, is evidence of her death. If Margaret Hassan can be kidnapped and murdered, how much further can we fall into the Iraqi pit? There are no barriers, no frontiers of immorality left. What price is innocence now worth in the anarchy that we have brought to Iraq? The answer is simple: nothing.
I remember her arguing with doctors and truck drivers when a lorryload of medicines arrived for children's cancer wards - courtesy of Independent readers - in 1998. She smiled, cajoled, pleaded to get these leukaemia drugs to Basra and Mosul. She would not have wished to be called an angel - Margaret didn't like clichés. Even now I want to write "doesn't like clichés"; are we really permitted to say that she is dead? For the bureaucrats and the Western leaders who will today express their outrage and sorrow at her reported death, she had nothing but scorn.
Yes, she knew the risks. Margaret Hassan was well aware that many Iraqi women had been kidnapped, raped, ransomed or murdered by the Baghdad mafia. Because she is a Western woman - the first Western woman to be abducted and apparently murdered - we forget how many Iraqi women have already suffered this terrible fate. They go largely unreported in a world which counts dead American soldiers, but ignores fatalities among those with darker skins and browner eyes and a different religion, whom we claimed to have liberated.
And now let's remember the other, earlier videos. Margaret Hassan crying, Margaret Hassan fainting, Margaret Hassan having water thrown over her face to revive her, Margaret Hassan crying again, pleading for the withdrawal of the Black Watch from the Euphrates river basin. In the background of these appalling pictures, there were none of the usual Islamic banners. There were none of the usual armed and hooded men. No Koranic recitations.
And when it percolated through to Fallujah and Ramadi that the mere act of kidnapping Margaret Hassan was close to heresy, the combined resistance groups of Fallujah - and the message genuinely came from them - demanded her release. So, incredibly, did Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qa'ida man whom the Americans falsely claimed to be leading the Iraqi insurrection - but who has very definitely been involved in kidnapping and beheading foreigners.
Other abducted women - the two Italian aid workers, for example - were freed when their captors recognised their innocence. But not Margaret Hassan, even though she spoke fluent Arabic and could explain her work to her captors in their own language.
There was one mysterious video that floated to the surface this year, a group of armed men promising to seize Zarqawi, claiming he was anti-Iraqi, politely referring to the occupation armies as "the coalition forces''. This was quickly nicknamed the "Allawi tape": after the US-appointed, ex-CIA agent and ex-Baathist who holds the title of "interim Prime Minister" in Iraq, the same Allawi who fatuously claimed there were no civilian deaths in Fallujah.
So, if anyone doubted the murderous nature of the insurgents, what better way to prove their viciousness than to produce evidence of Margaret Hassan's murder? What more ruthless way could there be of demonstrating to the world that America and Allawi's tinpot army were fighting "evil" in Fallujah and the other Iraqi cities that are now controlled by Washington's enemies.
Even in the topsy-turvy world of Iraq, nobody is suggesting that people associated with the government of Mr Allawi had a hand in Margaret Hassan's death. Iraq, after all, is awash with up to 20 insurgent groups but also with rival gangs of criminals seeking to extort money from hostage-taking.
But still the question has to be answered: who killed Margaret Hassan?
For more information:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/s...
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Iraqis Angry, Distraught at Aid Worker's Murder
By Mussab al-Khairalla
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis reacted with anger and disbelief Wednesday to news that British-Iraqi aid worker Margaret Hassan, who worked in Iraq for decades before being kidnapped a month ago, had been killed by her captors.
Irish-born Hassan, 59, moved to Iraq more than 30 years ago after marrying an Iraqi engineer. She learned Arabic and became a pillar of support in local communities, often helping the needy in the face of opposition during Saddam Hussein's regime.
Those who knew her, worked with her or were helped by her described Hassan as a formidable woman who went about her work with determination. She helped the disabled, the orphaned and those without water or sanitation calmly and efficiently.
One of the hospitals she regularly supported was a spinal cord clinic in Baghdad run by Qayder al-Chalabi, who said her loss was a huge blow to all Iraqis.
The killers "made a very big mistake. This was the wrong person," he told Reuters Wednesday.
"I cannot imagine that these things could happen to her because she was a very humanitarian person. She felt our suffering, she understood the suffering of the Iraqi people.
"We need to admire and remember her. We must have a ceremony every year to remember her," he said, adding that he believed a statue should be erected in her honor.
Hassan was kidnapped Oct. 19 as she was being driven to work in Baghdad, where she was the director of the local operation of aid organization Care International.
A video released to Arabic news channel Al Jazeera showed a hooded figure shooting a blindfolded woman in the head.
Hassan's husband and British foreign office officials have said they believe the video tape is "probably genuine" and her family has said they believe Margaret Hassan is dead.
'SAVAGE BEASTS'
Militant Islamists have waged a campaign of kidnappings and killings to try to force U.S.-led troops and foreigners to leave Iraq. More than 120 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since April and more than three dozen have been killed.
If confirmed, Hassan would be the first foreign woman killed.
Several foreigners are still believed to be held, including at least one other woman, Polish-Iraqi Teresa Borcz Khalifa. Others include two American men and two French journalists.
"These people are savage beasts," said a man working close to the now shuttered Care offices in Baghdad. He would not give his name for fear of reprisals.
"The whole idea of kidnapping is completely wrong. If people want to resist the occupation they can fight American troops, not kill Iraqis or innocent foreigners," he said.
A campaign to gather information on Hassan's whereabouts was recently launched in Baghdad, with a picture of Hassan holding a sick Iraqi child posted on billboards around the city.
The billboards read: "Margaret Hassan is truly a daughter of Iraq ... She is against the occupation."
"She came to help us and give us prosperity," said Hashim Hassan, a 41-year-old security guard at a surgery. "These terrorists are outsiders ruining Iraq's image. Iraqis would not destroy their own country."
Unemployed Yusuf Ali, 35, said attacking or kidnapping aid workers was a development that would only harm the nation.
"The enemies of Iraq are attacking power stations, oil pipelines and kidnapping foreigners and aid workers at a time when we need them most. Aid workers would be flowing into Falluja right now if they didn't fear decapitation," he said.
By Mussab al-Khairalla
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis reacted with anger and disbelief Wednesday to news that British-Iraqi aid worker Margaret Hassan, who worked in Iraq for decades before being kidnapped a month ago, had been killed by her captors.
Irish-born Hassan, 59, moved to Iraq more than 30 years ago after marrying an Iraqi engineer. She learned Arabic and became a pillar of support in local communities, often helping the needy in the face of opposition during Saddam Hussein's regime.
Those who knew her, worked with her or were helped by her described Hassan as a formidable woman who went about her work with determination. She helped the disabled, the orphaned and those without water or sanitation calmly and efficiently.
One of the hospitals she regularly supported was a spinal cord clinic in Baghdad run by Qayder al-Chalabi, who said her loss was a huge blow to all Iraqis.
The killers "made a very big mistake. This was the wrong person," he told Reuters Wednesday.
"I cannot imagine that these things could happen to her because she was a very humanitarian person. She felt our suffering, she understood the suffering of the Iraqi people.
"We need to admire and remember her. We must have a ceremony every year to remember her," he said, adding that he believed a statue should be erected in her honor.
Hassan was kidnapped Oct. 19 as she was being driven to work in Baghdad, where she was the director of the local operation of aid organization Care International.
A video released to Arabic news channel Al Jazeera showed a hooded figure shooting a blindfolded woman in the head.
Hassan's husband and British foreign office officials have said they believe the video tape is "probably genuine" and her family has said they believe Margaret Hassan is dead.
'SAVAGE BEASTS'
Militant Islamists have waged a campaign of kidnappings and killings to try to force U.S.-led troops and foreigners to leave Iraq. More than 120 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since April and more than three dozen have been killed.
If confirmed, Hassan would be the first foreign woman killed.
Several foreigners are still believed to be held, including at least one other woman, Polish-Iraqi Teresa Borcz Khalifa. Others include two American men and two French journalists.
"These people are savage beasts," said a man working close to the now shuttered Care offices in Baghdad. He would not give his name for fear of reprisals.
"The whole idea of kidnapping is completely wrong. If people want to resist the occupation they can fight American troops, not kill Iraqis or innocent foreigners," he said.
A campaign to gather information on Hassan's whereabouts was recently launched in Baghdad, with a picture of Hassan holding a sick Iraqi child posted on billboards around the city.
The billboards read: "Margaret Hassan is truly a daughter of Iraq ... She is against the occupation."
"She came to help us and give us prosperity," said Hashim Hassan, a 41-year-old security guard at a surgery. "These terrorists are outsiders ruining Iraq's image. Iraqis would not destroy their own country."
Unemployed Yusuf Ali, 35, said attacking or kidnapping aid workers was a development that would only harm the nation.
"The enemies of Iraq are attacking power stations, oil pipelines and kidnapping foreigners and aid workers at a time when we need them most. Aid workers would be flowing into Falluja right now if they didn't fear decapitation," he said.
For more information:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...
Admittedly this is just speculation.
But in light of the fact that the combined resistance groups of Fallujah and Ramadi as well as ordinary Iraqi citizens were horrified by her kidnapping it makes no sense that she would be killed by anti-occupation Iraqis.
In fact, when those holding her said they would give her to Zarqawi's group, a Zarqawi group stated if that was done, they would release her immediately.
It would seem plausible that she may have been taken by elements of Allawi's government (possibly with US complicity) in order to shock the world against Iraqi resistance (which did not do this by their own admission and denunciations of the abduction) as well as to shock Iraqis themselves against the resistance. Indeed, it had just that effect on Iraqis interviewed in the above story by Reuters.
In light of the carnage carried out in Fallujah (which saw the bombings of a clinic full of patients, doctors and hospital staff, bombings of civilian cars and homes), such an atrocity is "needed" in order to justify what they have done there which by any universal moral standards is completely outrageous and unjustifiable.
I believe the occupation and invasion has sunk to new lows with the murder of this anti-war, anti-occupation, and pro-Iraq activist.
But in light of the fact that the combined resistance groups of Fallujah and Ramadi as well as ordinary Iraqi citizens were horrified by her kidnapping it makes no sense that she would be killed by anti-occupation Iraqis.
In fact, when those holding her said they would give her to Zarqawi's group, a Zarqawi group stated if that was done, they would release her immediately.
It would seem plausible that she may have been taken by elements of Allawi's government (possibly with US complicity) in order to shock the world against Iraqi resistance (which did not do this by their own admission and denunciations of the abduction) as well as to shock Iraqis themselves against the resistance. Indeed, it had just that effect on Iraqis interviewed in the above story by Reuters.
In light of the carnage carried out in Fallujah (which saw the bombings of a clinic full of patients, doctors and hospital staff, bombings of civilian cars and homes), such an atrocity is "needed" in order to justify what they have done there which by any universal moral standards is completely outrageous and unjustifiable.
I believe the occupation and invasion has sunk to new lows with the murder of this anti-war, anti-occupation, and pro-Iraq activist.
you did.
or all of us did. "when after all, it was you and me..."
or something. cmon, what good is the blame game, if you dont affix it?
or all of us did. "when after all, it was you and me..."
or something. cmon, what good is the blame game, if you dont affix it?
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