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| Down Under |
| Australian Hostage Still Alive ? |
| 2005-05-14 |
AN Australian cleric in Iraq to help negotiate the release of hostage Douglas Wood says Mr Wood is alive and his abductors are expected to announce new conditions for his release within 48 hours. Sheik Taj Eldeen Alhilali, the leader of Australia's Muslim community, told one of his aides in Sydney last night the 63-year-old engineer, who was captured a fortnight ago, was still alive. Spokesman Keysar Trad said the Mufti had reported that a message purporting to be from Mr Wood's abductors was read out on an Iraqi television station, saying Mr Wood was alive and the deadline was extended, but did not say until when. Mr Trad said Sheik Alhilali had independently received signals that Mr Wood was alive and that his captors might consider softening their conditions for his release. He said he expected to receive news within 48 hours from the abductors as to what their conditions might be for Mr Wood's release. The demands could be less than those originally made - for the full withdrawal of Australian troops, Mr Trad said. Mr Wood was kidnapped by a group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Iraq. He was seen in a second video aired on Arabic television station al Jazeera last weekend, with shaved head and swollen eyes, in which his captors set a 72-hour deadline for the withdrawal of Australian troops. That passed with no news. Mr Wood's Canberra-based brother said he had received no news from Sheik Alhilali on the developments and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was trying to confirm the report. Earlier yesterday, the Sheik pleaded with his captors to allow an urgent delivery of medicine. Mr Wood, 63, suffers from heart and blood pressure problems, as well as rheumatoid arthritis. The ailments could be life-threatening if left untreated. Mr Wood's family has recorded advertisements in Canberra which will screen on Iraqi television for the first time tonight. They show Mr Wood in photographs with his daughter and grandchildren and depict him as a family man with no political ties. An Arabic voiceover says Mr Wood is an unwell man and his family miss him very much. It urges anyone with information to call a number in Baghdad. The family has also placed advertisements in Iraqi newspapers. |
| Posted by:Pholunter Shaiger1834 |