- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 410
This could eventually be a case study for our new SOG.
Why am I reminded of that scene from "The Fifth Element" where Bruce Willis asks "... anybody else want to negotiate?" ... (but, then again - the Ozzies don't mention anything about negotiating ... they only mention "seek the release" ...)
Good luck to them.
Australia sends team to seek hostage's release
Last Updated Mon, 02 May 2005 10:25:20 EDT
CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/05/02/australia-hostage050502.html
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - Australia rushed an emergency response team to Iraq Monday to seek the release of a 63-year-old Australian man taken hostage by insurgents, as three car bombs exploded in Baghdad killing at least six.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the team, which includes diplomats, federal police agents and defence personnel, will work closely with American and Iraqi authorities to free Douglas Wood.
Insurgents calling themselves the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq have released video footage of Wood pleading for his life and asking Prime Minister John Howard to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq.
"Please help me. I don't want to die," Wood says on the video, sent to Associated Press Television News and aired over and over again on Australian television broadcasts Monday.
There are about 920 Australian defence force personnel stationed in and around Iraq, and another 450 troops have begun deploying in the south of the country.
PM vows soldiers will remain in Iraq
Howard says Australian soldiers will stay in Iraq, despite Wood's capture.
"Everybody knows the position of the Australian government in relation to hostage demands," the prime minister said. "We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists."
Downer said there are other limits to what the government can do.
"We're certainly not prepared to pay a ransom for the release of people who are taken hostage," he said.
"The Australian government never has and never will."
Wood's family has released a statement saying they are distressed and extremely worried about him, but trust the government is doing all it can to help.
Wood is an engineer who has been in Iraq for more than a year, his wife Pearl said.
He has been working for a private company, conducting numerous projects for the U.S. military.
3 car bombs kill at least 6 Iraqis
In other developments Monday, three car bombs exploded in Baghdad, adding to the carnage from a string of attacks that has killed at least 123 people since Thursday, when Iraq's interim government finally appointed key cabinet members.
On Sunday alone, at least 40 people died in attacks, many of them mourners at a funeral.
One of the new attacks Monday targeted an upscale shopping area in the Iraqi capital, killing at least nine Iraqis.
Other attacks killed a total of four people, including a British soldier.
Why am I reminded of that scene from "The Fifth Element" where Bruce Willis asks "... anybody else want to negotiate?" ... (but, then again - the Ozzies don't mention anything about negotiating ... they only mention "seek the release" ...)
Good luck to them.
Australia sends team to seek hostage's release
Last Updated Mon, 02 May 2005 10:25:20 EDT
CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/05/02/australia-hostage050502.html
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - Australia rushed an emergency response team to Iraq Monday to seek the release of a 63-year-old Australian man taken hostage by insurgents, as three car bombs exploded in Baghdad killing at least six.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the team, which includes diplomats, federal police agents and defence personnel, will work closely with American and Iraqi authorities to free Douglas Wood.
Insurgents calling themselves the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq have released video footage of Wood pleading for his life and asking Prime Minister John Howard to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq.
"Please help me. I don't want to die," Wood says on the video, sent to Associated Press Television News and aired over and over again on Australian television broadcasts Monday.
There are about 920 Australian defence force personnel stationed in and around Iraq, and another 450 troops have begun deploying in the south of the country.
PM vows soldiers will remain in Iraq
Howard says Australian soldiers will stay in Iraq, despite Wood's capture.
"Everybody knows the position of the Australian government in relation to hostage demands," the prime minister said. "We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists."
Downer said there are other limits to what the government can do.
"We're certainly not prepared to pay a ransom for the release of people who are taken hostage," he said.
"The Australian government never has and never will."
Wood's family has released a statement saying they are distressed and extremely worried about him, but trust the government is doing all it can to help.
Wood is an engineer who has been in Iraq for more than a year, his wife Pearl said.
He has been working for a private company, conducting numerous projects for the U.S. military.
3 car bombs kill at least 6 Iraqis
In other developments Monday, three car bombs exploded in Baghdad, adding to the carnage from a string of attacks that has killed at least 123 people since Thursday, when Iraq's interim government finally appointed key cabinet members.
On Sunday alone, at least 40 people died in attacks, many of them mourners at a funeral.
One of the new attacks Monday targeted an upscale shopping area in the Iraqi capital, killing at least nine Iraqis.
Other attacks killed a total of four people, including a British soldier.
