Margaret Hassan (née Fitzsimons; 18 April 1945 – 8 November 2004) was an Irish aid worker who had worked in Iraq for many years until she was abducted by unidentified assailants in Baghdad during the Iraqi insurgency.
Her captors subsequently filmed and released a video of her stating that she was living her "last hours" before she pleaded for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq; she has not been seen since, and her remains were never recovered.
However, soon after the end of World War II her family moved to London, England, where she spent most of her early life and where her younger siblings were born.
[citation needed] A requiem Mass was held for her, after her death was confirmed, at Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
She remained in Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War, although the British Council suspended operations in Iraq, and she was left jobless at the end of it.
Sanitation, health, and nutrition became major concerns in the sanctioned Iraq; she became a vocal critic of the United Nations restrictions.
On 2 November, Al Jazeera reported that the kidnappers threatened to hand her over to the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who were responsible for the execution of Kenneth Bigley.
On 6 November, a statement purportedly from al-Zarqawi appeared on an Islamist website calling for the release of Hassan unless the kidnappers had information she was aligned with the invading coalition.
On 15 November, US Marines in Fallujah uncovered the body of an unidentified blonde- or grey-haired woman with her legs and arms cut off and throat slit.
There was one other Western woman known missing in Iraq at the time the body was discovered, Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, Polish-born and also a long-time Iraqi resident.
On 16 November, CNN reported that 'CARE' had issued a statement indicating that the organisation was aware of a videotape showing Hassan's execution.
The director of the spinal cord clinic she supported in Baghdad, Qayder al-Chalabi, called her loss a huge blow to all Iraqis.
On 5 June 2006, news reports emerged that an Iraqi man by the name of Mustafa Salman al-Jubouri has been sentenced to life imprisonment for "aiding and abetting the kidnappers" but two other men were acquitted.
[9] On 2 June 2009, the Press Association reported that Jassar was given a life sentence by Baghdad's Central Criminal Court for being involved in Hassan's abduction and murder, and for attempting to blackmail the British Embassy.
On 14 July 2010, a day before Jassar was due to appear in court for retrial, it was reported that he could not be located in the prison facility where he was being held.