Officials trying to contact Hassan kidnappers
The Government is leaving no stone unturned in its attempts to free aid director Margaret Hassan from her captors in Iraq, the Dáil was told today.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the abduction of the Dublin-born Care International chief in Iraq was a “terrible deed” to inflict on her family.
He agreed to a request from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny to debate the issue in the Dáil today to enable members of the House to express their sympathy to Mrs Hassan’s family and to appeal for her release.
Mr Ahern said Government officials were working hard behind the scenes to determine which group was involved and to establish contact with them.
“All communication links are being used. Efforts went on late into the night last night by our Foreign Affairs people and Minister Jack Straw in the UK,” he said.
“It’s a terrible deed to hit her family firstly and secondly to hit the Care International organisation.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern was expected to discuss the issue with Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy when they meet at Iveagh House, Dublin, later.
In emphasising her Irish links and her long record of selfless humanitarian work for Care International, he said: “For our part, everything will be done to assist the situation.”
Earlier, in calling for a short debate on the kidnap situation, Mr Kenny said: “This is a matter not to divide the house but is a matter of unity.”
Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte and Sinn Féin’s Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin supported the request for a debate and extended their support to Mrs Hassan’s family and friends.
Mrs Hassan, who is in her early 60s, heads Care International’s operations in Iraq and the humanitarian organisation has suspended operations in the country.
She was seized on her way to work in western Baghdad after gunmen blocked her route and dragged the driver and a companion from the car, her husband said.
Former Fianna Fáil MEP Niall Andrews, who met Mrs Hassan on several occasions, compared her to Mother Teresa.
“I knew the work she did and she was quite an extraordinary woman,” he said.
“She was the next thing to Mother Teresa. She was apolitical in the sense that she didn’t get involved in politics under Saddam Hussein and equally she didn’t go on about the sanctions. She just went about her work.
“She is an Iraqi in that she has lived there for 30 years and is married to an Iraqi. She was born in Dublin to Irish parents, and her family name is Fitzsimons.”
Mr Andrews also told of one time he had worked with Mrs Hassan before the war when they provided medicine for suffering Iraqis.
“We flew a plane into the no-fly zone. We had medicines on board,” he said.
“We gave them to her and she was really glad to have them.
“She would have had an Iraqi passport, as you had to have one under Saddam Hussein, and she had been there for 30 years,” he added.
Mrs Hassan’s father died two months ago in England.
Her husband, Tahseen Ali Hassan, is a retired economist.
Her sister, Geraldine Riney, lives in Kenmare, Co Kerry, while other siblings were born in England, where the family moved when Mrs Hassan was a child.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised all of Mrs Hassan’s relatives not to comment to the media.
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