Tuesday, November 16 after a video received by the Arabic Al-Jazeera television showed a hooded figure shooting a blindfolded woman in the head, the network said.

Hassan’s family in London said they believed the longtime director of CARE in Iraq was the victim, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reported. CARE said it was in mourning for the 59-year-old Briton who worked for decades providing food, medicine and humanitarian aid to Iraqis.

"Mrs. Hassan is an Iraqi citizen who has dedicated her life to helping the poorest and most disadvantaged people in Iraq," Care added in an earlier statement. Al-Jazeera decided not to telecast the video as it could not be sure that the woman was indeed Hassan and "out of respect for the feelings of its audience," the network said on its Internet website.

VIDEO CONFIRMED

The British embassy in Baghdad reportedly confirmed that a video tape had surfaced appearing to show her being killed and that it was probably genuine. Her husband, Tahsin Hasan, in a statement broadcast by Britain’s Sky News reportedly television said, "The video may be genuine, but I do not know."

Tahsin requested captors to tell him what they did with her "I beg those people who took Margaret to tell me what they have done with her. They can tell… I need her. I need her back to rest in peace," he said. "Margaret lived with me in Iraq for 30 years. She dedicated her life to serving the Iraqi people. Please, now, please return her to me."

SEVERAL MESSAGES

Dublin-born Hassan was seized on October 19 while on her way to work at CARE International, for which she was Iraq country director. She has appeared in video tapes released by her unknown captors calling on the British government to withdraw its troops from Iraq.
CARE International recently seized its operations in Iraq, in hope to win her release. Speaking on CNBC network Monday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was disturbed by the killings of kidnapped people in Iraq. But he said he would never give in to the militants, as "what we do it right."

A campaign of kidnappings and killings has gripped Iraq in recent months with more than 35 foreign captives killed, Al-Jazeera reported. It has also added to concern among Iraq’s Christian community, which has been often the target of attacks as it is perceived as supporting the U.S-led operations in Irag.

MULTILATED BODY

On Sunday, U.S. Marines found the mutilated body of what they believe was a Western woman on a street in a Fallujah during the U.S. assault on the insurgent stronghold. Besides Hassan, the only Western woman known held was Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, a Polish-born longtime resident of Iraq was seized last month, news reports said.

Al-Jazeera reported on November 2 that Hassan’s captors had threatened to turn her over to followers i Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has been blamed for numerous deadly car bombings a the slayings of foreign hostages, including three Americans and a Briton.

Marines in Fallujah, a hotbed of insurgents, have claimed they discovered "slaughter houses" for hostages in recent days.

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