Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/22/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / INSURGENCY (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-319850

BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Fearing Execution, Kidnapped CARE Director Appeals to Blair for Release

INTRO: In Iraq, the kidnapped director of the relief group CARE International is appealing to the British government to withdraw its troops from the country, saying she fears she will be the next hostage executed if they are not. Meanwhile in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed reports suggesting the insurgency in Iraq is worse than U.S. officials had thought. Correspondent Nick Simeone has more from the Pentagon.

TEXT: It was on a video released by Margaret Hassan's kidnappers and broadcast on Arab Al-Jazeera television that the Irish-born Iraqi citizen tearfully begs British Prime Minister Tony Blair to pull British troops out of Iraq.

/// HASSAN ACT ///

"Please help me. Please help me. This might be my last hour. Please help me. Please, the British people, ask Mr. Blair to take the troops out of Iraq and not to bring them here to Baghdad."

/// END ACT ///

She went on to refer to executed British hostage Kenneth Bigley, saying she fears the same fate if such action is not taken. Shortly after that tape was broadcast, both the British and Irish governments issued their own appeals for the release of a woman who has lived and performed humanitarian work in Iraq for 30 years, with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw calling the video extremely distressing and asking the Iraqi people to appeal for her immediate release as well.

Here at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, responding to reports that quoted unnamed U.S. defense officials as saying the Iraq insurgency is growing worse, told reporters U.S. officials had predicted the violence would likely increase ahead of January's scheduled elections.

/// RUMSFELD ACT ///

"The idea that anyone is suggesting this is easy or that there are just a few problems or people . . . We have said repeatedly that it is tough and complicated and that there are a variety of different elements opposing the Iraqi government and the coalition."

/// END ACT ///

Making matters worse, he says insurgents and terrorists are benefiting from huge sums of money pouring into Iraq from Iran and Syria, as well as cash stolen from Iraqi banks after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

/// 2nd RUMSFELD ACT ///

"We've found hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars so you've got to assume that when they took the banks over, they have hundreds of millions of dollars."

/// END ACT ///

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says the next couple of months will likely determine whether elections set for January can go ahead as planned. While the Iraqi and American governments say they remain committed to that time frame, the U.N. chief says key decisions on whether to send more U.N. personnel to help with the process will first require a genuine improvement in Iraq's security situation. (SIGNED)

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