Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CANBERRA808
2005-05-09 08:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Canberra
Cable title:  

AUSTRALIAN HOSTAGE CASE: OUTLOOK BLEAK, NEW PLAYERS

Tags:  PTER PREL AS IZ 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000808 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2015
TAGS: PTER PREL AS IZ
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN HOSTAGE CASE: OUTLOOK BLEAK, NEW PLAYERS

REF: CANBERRA 777

Classified By: Political Counselor Woo Lee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000808

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2015
TAGS: PTER PREL AS IZ
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN HOSTAGE CASE: OUTLOOK BLEAK, NEW PLAYERS

REF: CANBERRA 777

Classified By: Political Counselor Woo Lee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Australian government expectations for the
release of the first confirmed Australian hostage in Iraq,
Douglas Wood, remain low, according to Australian Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Iraq Task Force Director
Bassim Blazey. Prominent Australian Sunni cleric, Sheikh Taj
Din al-Hilali, the Mufti of Australia, appealed directly to
the kidnappers for Wood's release in a May 7 video broadcast
on al-Jazeera. Sheik al-Hilali is leading a delegation of
senior Australian Muslims to Iraq on May 9 in an attempt to
negotiate Wood's release. The GOA is satisfied with the
cooperation it has received from the Iraqi Transitional
Government (ITG),and has appreciated the sensible approach
of Wood's Australian family. ITG Vice President Ghazi al
Yawar suggested to GOA officials that Wood's kidnappers could
be associated with the Zarqawi network in Iraq, but the GOA
has no independent information that would support that
assertion. End Summary.


2. (C) On May 9, Iraq Task Force Director Blazey told
poloffs that the Australian Government remained pessimistic
about prospects for the release of Douglas Wood, in part
because Wood's health was extremely poor and he could die of
natural causes within one to two weeks without the medicines
he had been taking. Blazey said the Australian Embassy in
Baghdad had a package of drugs ready to pass on to Wood
through any interlocutor who might be able to negotiate on
his behalf.


3. (C) A second video released to al-Jazeera on May 7 by the
kidnappers demanded that Australia withdraw its troops from
Iraq within 72 hours. The video did not make clear, however,
when the 72-hour period was to start. According to Blazey,
the GOA had also learned that Hassan Zadaan, the
controversial Sunni tribal sheikh and former general in
Saddam Hussein's army who had been reported in the press as
trying to negotiate on Wood's behalf, was in fact not in
direct contact with the hostage takers after all.


4. (U) Meanwhile, the Mufti of Australia, Sunni Sheikh
al-Hilali, announced that he would be leading a delegation
today to Baghdad to attempt to secure Wood's release. The

Mufti had appealed to the kidnappers directly through a May 7
al-Jazeera broadcast and told the Australian press that he
had been in touch with Sunni scholars in Iraq. The Sheikh
said he was hoping at the very least to obtain a 48-hour
extension to the captors' deadline.


5. (U) Sheikh al-Hilali's statements on al-Jazeera did not
support U.S. policy in Iraq, suggesting instead that Wood
should be released because he and most Australians disagreed
with U.S. policy. "We value your jihad and your efforts and
we call upon you to do something for the sake of our
community and all Australian society, which does not support
(Prime Minister John) Howard's pro-American policies," said
al-Hilali to the kidnappers. "You know the Australian forces
in Iraq are protected by American forces and don't do
anything - it's all politics." Sheikh Hilali told the
Australian media that he had explained to the kidnappers that
local Muslims understood their desire to liberate their
country and make it independent, but that kidnappings
reflected poorly on the Islamic community in Australia.
Blazey noted that Sheikh al-Hilali had in the past called for
the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.


6. (C) Blazey emphasized that the Sheikh's visit was a
private initiative -- the result of his meeting with Wood's
brothers at Sydney's Lakemba Mosque. The GOA was not
involved in visit planning, although it welcomed any effort
that might lead to the Australian's release. Blazey said the
Australian Government would be willing to put the Muslim
cleric on a C-130 to Baghdad if requested, but that the
cleric had so far not asked for GOA support.


7. (C) Blazey corrected media claims that the Wood family
was contemplating paying a ransom. They were, however,
considering making conciliatory statements through the media
sympathizing with the suffering of Iraqis or donating to a
charity, in the hope of inducing Wood's release. The Wood
family had been very cooperative and seemed supportive of the
government's handling of the case to date, Blazey commented.


8. (C) Blazey also told us that Trade Minister Mark Vaile,
who had called ITG Prime Minister Ja'fari on May 7 to discuss
the problem of off-loading Australian wheat shipments to
Iraq, had thanked Ja'fari for the ITG's help in Wood's case.
The Australian Emergency Response Team, lead by DFAT Deputy
Secretary Nick Warner (reftel),had met with Interior

SIPDIS
Minister Bayan Jabor on May 8 and found him helpful. In a
meeting with Vice President Ghazi al Yawar, the team had been
told that Wood's kidnappers were associated with the
al-Zarqawi network. Blazey said, however, that the GOA did
not have any other information that tracked with that
assertion.


9. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.
STANTON