The suspected murder of British aid worker Margaret Hassan in Iraq was widely condemned here as a wave of unrest across Sunni Muslim hotspots killed more than 20 people, many of them women and children.
Amid the continued violence Wednesday, more than 60 Iraqi policemen were reported kidnapped as they returned Sunday from training in Jordan.
Hassan, 59, was seized on her way to work in Baghdad on Oct. 19 by unknown kidnappers.
She was presumed to be the first foreign female hostage to have been murdered in Iraq, and the second British hostage.
CARE Australia, the charity organization that employs Hassan, said it appeared she had been killed, after al-Jazeera television received a video showing a blindfolded woman hostage being shot in the head.
As her family mourned, Britain voiced outrage over the apparent slaying and EU aid commissioner Poul Nielson warned that it would make it almost impossible for relief work to continue in Iraq.
The Arab League also denounced the apparent murder.
"This is a criminal and terrorist act, rejected and denounced according to any criteria ... and inadmissible by every Arab and Muslim whatever the pretext," a spokesman said, adding that the League is "opposed in principle to targetting civilians."
There has been no official confirmation of her slaying.
The news of Hassan's suspected killing came during a wave a violence that saw people killed or wounded across Iraq as US-led troops battled insurgents in several Iraqi cities.
In Fallujah, where US-led troops launched a massive assault Nov. 8 to wrest the city from insurgents, a US Marine officer said Wednesday "the battle is over.
"We've still got pockets of fighters, but it's becoming more and more scarce," said Lieutenant Colonel Leonard DiFrancisci, head of civil affairs for the 1st Regimental Combat Team.
But Arabs voiced outrage at the apparent shooting of an unarmed Iraqi by a US Marine in Fallujah, calling for an immediate investigation of this "war crime."
And there are fears of a humanitarian crisis as US troops have prevented a Red Crescent aid convoy from entering Fallujah, a city of some 300,000 civilians in normal times, saying it was too dangerous.
"As far as the return of civilians, it will be at least a week," DiFrancisci said. "That would be a guess."
At least 39 US soldiers have been killed and 275 wounded so far in Operation Dawn, with at least five Iraqi troops and more than 1,200 insurgents also killed, according to the US military.
The military continued its bid to clear rebels from the northern city of Mosul, while at least 23 people were killed in clashes and attacks elsewhere.
Fourteen people were killed, most of them women and children, and 26 wounded in a bomb explosion and clashes in the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, police said.
In western Iraq more than 60 policemen were seized Sunday as they returned from training in Jordan, one of only two men who managed to escape the ambush told reporters Wednesday.
"We were around 65 policemen returning from training in Jordan when around 20 masked gunmen entered our hotel Sunday morning in Trebil," Leith Naama al-Kaabi said.
Also see stories:
Photographer of shooting video refusing to comment
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
Authorities yesterday elaborated on the rules governing Employment Gold Cards after a US cardholder was barred from entering Taiwan for six years after working without a permit during a 2023 visit. American YouTuber LeLe Farley was barred after already being approved for an Employment Gold Card, he said in a video published on his channel on Saturday. Farley, who has more than 420,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, was approved for his Gold Card last month, but was told at a check-in counter at the Los Angeles International Airport that he could not enter Taiwan. That was because he previously participated in two
RSS