The announcement on Wednesday 17 November by British investigators that a video of the apparent murder of Irish-born CARE worker in Iraq, Margaret Hassan is�authentic�has sent shock waves across the world. Hassan was abducted on 19 October as she was on her way to work in the Iraqi capital. Al-Jazeera TV news station announced it had received a video which shows a masked man shoot in the head a blindfolded woman in an orange jumpsuit, believed to be Hassan. Despite repeated pleas by her Iraqi husband, Hassan's body has not yet been found. A mutilated body of what is believed to be a western woman was found earlier this week was sent to the UK for DNA testing. Australia's prime minister initially said the body belonged to Hassan, but later retracted from that claim. Hassan, who was a convert to Islam, lived in Iraq for 30 years. If her murder is confirmed, she would be the first woman hostage to be killed in Iraq since the start of a series of brutal murders of Western, Arab and Asian hostages. Many of them were mercilessly decapitated. The timing of Hassan's apparent murder �which coincided with the release of videos showing US marines shooting wounded Iraqis in Falluja- triggered wide-spread speculation about the identity and motives of her captors. Resistance fighters in Falluja and reported statements by Abu Mossab Al-Zarqawi had previously called for Hassan's release
