Margaret Hassan (18 April 1945 – 8 November 2004), also known as "Madam Margaret", was an Irish-born aid worker who had worked in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
for many years until she was
abducted and murdered by unidentified kidnappers in Iraq in 2004, at the age of 59. Her remains have never been recovered.
Life and career
She was born Margaret Fitzsimons in
Dalkey
Dalkey ( ; ) is an affluent suburb of Dublin, and a seaside resort southeast of the city, and the town of Dún Laoghaire, in the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown in the historic County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement ...
,
County Dublin
"Action to match our speech"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg
, map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...
, Ireland, to parents Peter and Mary Fitzsimons. However, soon after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
her family moved to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, where she spent most of her early life and where her younger siblings were born. At the age of twenty seven, she married Tahseen Ali Hassan, a twenty-nine-year-old Iraqi studying engineering in the United Kingdom. She moved to Iraq with him in 1972, when she began work with the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
, teaching English. Eventually she learned
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
and became an Iraqi
citizen.
She remained a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
throughout her life and never converted to
Islam as was widely reported after her death. A requiem Mass was held for her, after her death was confirmed, at
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...
by
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
During the early 1980s, Hassan became the assistant director of studies at the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
; later in the decade she became director. Meanwhile, Tahseen worked as an economist. She remained in Baghdad during the 1991
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
, although the British Council suspended operations in Iraq, and she was left jobless at the end of it.
CARE International
Hassan joined humanitarian relief organisation
CARE International in 1991, the aid group having established itself in Iraq during that year. Sanitation, health, and nutrition became major concerns in the sanctioned Iraq; she became a vocal critic of the United Nations restrictions. She was opposed to the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, arguing before it that the Iraqis were already "living through a terrible emergency. They do not have the resources to withstand an additional crisis brought about by military action". Margaret was crucially involved in bringing leukaemia medicine to child cancer victims in Iraq in 1998.
By 2004, she was head of Iraqi operations for CARE. Well known in many of Baghdad's slums and other cities, Hassan was especially interested in Iraq's young people, whom she called "the lost generation". Her presence could draw large crowds of locals.
Kidnapping and Execution
Hassan was
kidnapped in Baghdad on 19 October 2004, and was killed some weeks later on 8 November. In a video released of her in captivity she pleaded for the withdrawal of British troops. She stated that "these might be
erlast hours", "Please help me. The British people, tell Mr Tony Blair to take the troops out of Iraq and not bring them here to Baghdad", and that she did not "want to die like Mr Bigley", a reference to
Kenneth Bigley
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a ...
, who had been executed in Iraq only weeks earlier.
Patients of an Iraqi hospital (where her work had some effect) took to the streets in protest against the hostage takers' actions. On 25 October, between 100 and 200 Iraqis protested outside CARE's offices in Baghdad, demanding her release. Prominent elements of the Iraqi insurgency, such as the Shura Council of
Fallujah Mujahideen, along with Iraqi political figures such as the Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah
Ali al-Sistani
Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani ( ar, علي الحسيني السيستاني; fa, , Ali-ye Hoseyni-ye Sistāni; born 4 August 1930), commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is an Iranian–Iraqi Twelver Shia Ayatollah and marja'. He has been describe ...
, condemned the kidnapping and called for her release. On 2 November,
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
reported that the kidnappers threatened to hand her over to the group led by
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who were responsible for the execution of Kenneth Bigley. On 6 November, a statement purportedly from al-Zarqawi appeared on an
Islamist website calling for the release of Hassan unless the kidnappers had information she was aligned with the invading coalition. However, the statement could not be authenticated. Hassan's whereabouts were unknown in the video.
On 15 November,
US Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
in
Fallujah uncovered the body of an unidentified blonde- or grey-haired woman with her legs and arms cut off and throat slit. The body could not be immediately identified, but was thought unlikely to be Hassan, who had brown hair. There was one other western woman known missing in Iraq at the time the body was discovered, Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, Polish-born and also a long-time Iraqi resident. Khalifa was found alive and rescued from her hostage takers on 20 November.
On 16 November,
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
reported that 'CARE' had issued a statement indicating that the organisation was aware of a videotape showing Hassan's execution. Al-Jazeera reported that it had received a tape showing Hassan's murder but was unable to confirm its authenticity. The video showed Hassan being shot with a handgun by a masked man. It is not known who was responsible for Hassan's abduction and murder.
The group holding her never identified itself in the hostage videos.
Aftermath
CARE International suspended operations in Iraq because of Hassan's kidnapping. The last CARE project Hassan completed was one for children with spinal injuries. The director of the spinal cord clinic she supported in Baghdad, Qayder al-Chalabi, called her loss a huge blow to all Iraqis. "(The killers) made a very big mistake. This was a wrong person", he said on 17 November. "We need to admire and remember her. We must have a ceremony every year to remember her". He believes that a statue should be erected in her honour.
At least eight other women kidnapped and tortured by insurgents during the conflict were found and rescued from captivity (Simona Pari, Simona Torretta, Florence Aubenas,
Giuliana Sgrena, Teresa Borcz Khalifa, Hannelore Krause, Marie Jeanne Ion, and
Jill Carroll
Jill Carroll (born October 6, 1977) is an American former journalist who worked for news organizations such as ''The Wall Street Journal'', MSNBC, and the ''Christian Science Monitor''. On January 7, 2006 while working for the ''Monitor'', she w ...
). It is unclear why Margaret Hassan, who was opposed to the war, lived in Iraq for many years, held Iraqi citizenship, was married to an Arab Muslim and spoke fluent Arabic was killed; the kidnappers did not identify their group nor their aims. In 2010, her family said that they continued to hope that her remains would be found and returned to them for a Christian burial.
Investigation and sentencing
On 1 May 2005, three men were questioned by Iraqi police in connection with the murder. On 5 June 2006, news reports emerged that an Iraqi man by the name of Mustafa Salman al-Jubouri has been sentenced to life imprisonment for "aiding and abetting the kidnappers" but two other men were acquitted. Margaret Hassan's family said the verdict left them "devastated and appalled". It is unclear what role the others who were acquitted played in the kidnapping or the role of the suspect who was found guilty. Al-Jubouri appealed this sentence and was given a shorter imprisonment.
An Iraqi man named Ali Lutfi Jassar al-Rawi, also known as Abu Rasha, an architect from Baghdad, was arrested by Iraqi and US forces in 2008 after contacting the British Embassy in Baghdad and attempting to extort 1 million dollars in return for disclosing the location of Hassan's body. He reportedly had knowledge of an intimate detail about Hassan, known only to her closest relatives and friends, which he used to validate his knowledge of her whereabouts. Though Jassar signed statements confessing to the charges, he pleaded not guilty, stating he was forced to sign them after receiving beatings and electrical shocks during questioning. "I have nothing to do with Hassan's abduction and I did not see or talk to her," Jassar said.
On 2 June 2009, the
Press Association reported that Jassar was given a life sentence by Baghdad's Central Criminal Court for being involved in Hassan's abduction and murder, and for attempting to blackmail the British Embassy. Hassan's family welcomed the court's decision but pleaded with Jassar to tell them where her body is so they can return her to Britain for burial.
Escape
On 14 July 2010, a day before Jassar was due to appear in court for retrial, it was reported that he could not be located in the prison facility where he was being held. He had been missing for a month. He had not appeared at any of the previous retrial dates, which led to concerns that he had been released.
Jassar recently transferred to a Baghdad jail after being held in northern Iraq. Jassar was not found after checking with both facilities. The director of Iraq's prisoner transfer system told an appeals judge that the killer's whereabouts were unknown. Hassan's family and lawyer believe the prisoner has escaped.
On 22 August 2010 Iraq's deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, said Jassar had been helped to escape from Baghdad central prison, formerly Abu Ghraib, during riots in September 2009 stating that "This guy
assar he escaped from prison. People facilitated his escape, he is gone," and that "He seized the opportunity of the riots in the prison in September 2009 and he escaped. He was the only one who escaped". The minister also added that he discovered Jassar's escape about "20 or 30 days ago."
See also
*
List of people who disappeared
Lists of people who disappeared include those whose current whereabouts are unknown, or whose deaths are unsubstantiated. Many people who disappear are eventually declared dead ''in absentia''. Some of these people were possibly subjected to enfo ...
*
Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr.
Paul Marshall Johnson Jr. (May 8, 1955 – ) was an American helicopter engineer who lived in Saudi Arabia. In 2004, he was taken hostage by militants and his murder was Beheading video, recorded on video tape.
Background
Johnson was born in Eag ...
*
Eugene Armstrong
Members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign hostages in Iraq beginning in April 2004. Since then, in a dramatic instance of Islamist kidnapping they have taken captive more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozens o ...
*
Jack Hensley
Members of the Iraqi insurgency (Iraq War), Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign hostages in Iraq beginning in April 2004. Since then, in a dramatic instance of Islamist kidnapping they have taken captive more than 200 foreigners and thousands of ...
*
Kim Sun-il
Kim Sun-il (13 September 1970) was a South Korean interpreter and Christian missionary who was kidnapped and murdered in Iraq.
Early life and education
Kim was born in a poor family and his biological mother died when he was nine years old.
H ...
*
Kenneth Bigley
Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a ...
*
Shosei Koda
was a Japanese citizen who was kidnapped and later beheaded in Iraq on 29 October 2004, by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, while touring the country. He was the first Japanese person beheaded in Iraq.
Early life and education
Koda's parents, Sets ...
*
Nick Berg
Nicholas Evan Berg (April 2, 1978 – May 7, 2004) was an American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq. He was abducted and beheaded according to a video released in May 2004 by Islamist mi ...
*
Marla Ruzicka
Marla Ruzicka (December 31, 1976 – April 16, 2005) was an American activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in mi ...
*
Piotr Stańczak
Piotr Stańczak (23 July 1966 – 7 February 2009) was a Polish geologist who was beheaded by Islamic terrorists in Pakistan in February 2009.
Abduction
Stańczak was abducted in the city of Attock in September 2008 after gunmen shot dead his dr ...
*
Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl (October 10, 1963 – February 1, 2002) was an American journalist who worked for ''The Wall Street Journal.'' He was kidnapped and later decapitated by terrorists in Pakistan.'
Pearl was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and rais ...
*
Post-invasion Iraq, 2003–present
References
External links
"Sister in plea over Hassan body"ndash; BBC News 6 June 2006
"UK tactics 'led to Hassan death"ndash; BBC News 6 June 2006
"Weeping Hassan pleads for life"–
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, 22 October 2004
"CARE worker pleads for her life"–
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, 22 October 2004
"Plea for Iraq Kidnap Clues"– ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 24 October 2004
"Captors threaten Hassan handover"– BBC News 2 November 2004
"'Zarqawi' call to release Hassan"– BBC News 6 November 2004
– CNN, 16 November 2004
"Who Killed Margaret Hassan?"by Robert Fisk, syndicated from ''The Independent'' by ''The Star'' (South Africa), 17 November 2004
– ''The Guardian'', 18 November 2004
Press release from CARE"Body found in Iraq wasn't Hassan"–
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
, 1 December 2004.
"Three quizzed over Hassan killing"– BBC News, 1 May 2005
Margaret Hassanon
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...
Identities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassan, Margaret
1945 births
2004 deaths
2004 murders in Iraq
20th-century Irish economists
21st-century Irish people
Assassinated activists
Deaths by firearm in Iraq
Foreign hostages in Iraq
Irish humanitarians
Irish murder victims
Irish people murdered abroad
Irish people taken hostage
Irish women economists
Missing person cases in Iraq
People from Dalkey
People murdered in Iraq
Women in the Iraq War
History of women in Iraq