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Robert Fisk: Who killed Margaret Hassan?
(Robert Fisk, The Independent, 17 November 2004)
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? . . . ''Our hearts are broken... her suffering has ended''

posted by LoZo 12:46 PM