A British-Iraqi woman who heads the Care International charity in Iraq was abducted in Baghdad on Tuesday, just over two weeks after kidnappers beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would do everything possible to secure the release of Irish-born Margaret Hassan, who has dual British and Iraqi nationality and has lived in Iraq for about 30 years.

Al Jazeera television aired footage of Hassan after her capture, sitting in a room and looking anxious. It showed close-ups of Hassan’s identification cards and said the video was accompanied by a claim of responsibility for the kidnapping from an unnamed Iraqi group. “This is someone who has lived in Iraq for 30 years, someone who is immensely respected, someone who is doing her level best to help the country,” said Blair. “It shows you the type of people we are up against, that they are prepared to kidnap somebody like this.”

A Care International spokeswoman said she had no idea who kidnapped Hassan or what their demands might be, but was keen to stress Hassan saw herself as part of the Iraqi community. “She sees herself as an Iraqi. Iraq is her home. She has been living there for many years and would never consider coming back to Britain,” the spokeswoman said.

Care International charity

Bigley, an engineer, became the first British hostage to be killed in Iraq when his kidnappers – followers of the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi – beheaded him earlier this month. Dublin-born Hassan is married to an Iraqi and has been working for Care International since it started operations in Iraq in the early 1990s.

A Foreign Office spokesman said British officials in Iraq were trying to establish what happened and were in contact with Iraqi authorities. The Irish Foreign Ministry said it had been in touch with Hassan’s family, some of whom live in Ireland, and would do all it could to secure her release.

Ireland, which traditionally has a policy of military neutrality, used its influence – to no avail – to seek the release of Bigley, who also had Irish roots. Care International is one of the world’s largest independent global relief and development organisations, and works in Iraq on primary healthcare and water projects.

The charity operates in more than 72 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It is also one of the only international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to maintain a continuous presence in Iraq. Most others pulled their remaining foreign staff out of the country after two female Italian aid workers were kidnapped for three weeks in September.

UNNAMED IRAQI ARMED GROUP

Al Jazeera airs video of Margaret Hassan

■ Al Jazeera television aired footage of a British-Iraqi woman working as the head of the Care International charity in Iraq who was kidnapped earlier on Tuesday. The video showed Margaret Hassan sitting in a room and looking anxious. No audio could be heard. The station showed close-ups of Hassan’s identification cards and said the video was accompanied by a claim of responsibility from an unnamed Iraqi group. “An unnamed Iraqi armed group said it had captured a British national working as a director at Care. The Iraqi group did not identify itself or give demands,”

Al Jazeera said. Unlike most of the previous videos of kidnappings in Iraq, no militants or banners appeared in the brief video which only showed Hassan, who was wearing a cream-coloured shirt. A television official told Reuters the station had received the video from sources after Hassan’s kidnapping, but declined to give any further details. Hassan’s husband told Al Jazeera from Baghdad that his wife had been driving to work when she was kidnapped. “When my wife was approaching her office, two cars surrounded her vehicle. The kidnappers attacked the driver and took control of her car, driving off with her to an unknown destination,” Tahseen Ali Hassan said. “We haven’t heard anything about the group and no one has contacted us,” he said. Care International said Hassan, who has been working for Care in Iraq for more than a decade, was abducted at 7:30 a.m. (0430 GMT). Hassan, who has lived in Iraq for around 30 years, has been working for the charity since it started operations there in the early 1990s.

<B>Kate Kelland