Hostage Margaret Hassan killed

2004-11-16 19:29

London - The family of Margaret Hassan, an aid worker abducted in Iraq last month, said on Tuesday they believed she was dead.

A statement from Hassan's four brothers and sisters was released by Britain's foreign office.

"Our hearts are broken," it said.

"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."

Hassan, 59, country director in Iraq for the charity Care International, was kidnapped by armed men who stopped her car as she was going to work in Baghdad on October 19.

She held British, Irish and Iraqi nationality, was married to an Iraqi and had lived in Iraq for 30 years.

The family's statement 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.

"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."

- AP