Husband in TV plea to kidnappers

Margaret Hassan urged Tony Blair to withdraw forces from Iraq

The Iraqi husband of kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan has pleaded with her captors to release her.

"I beg you, in the name of Islam and Arabism, while we are in the holiest Islamic month, to return my wife," said Tahseen Ali Hassan in a televised plea.

Mrs Hassan, who was seized on Tuesday, has dual Iraqi and British citizenship and has lived in Iraq for 30 years.

A video released on Friday showed her in tears begging Tony Blair to withdraw British forces to save her life.

"It was very painful to see my wife crying.

"The scene pained, distressed and saddened her friends and loved ones," said Mr Hassan in the broadcast on Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV.

It is still not known which group has kidnapped Mrs Hassan, the director of Care International in Iraq, as unusually there was no banner or insignia on the video, nor any claim of responsibility.

She considers Iraq her homeland. She loves Iraq and its people. She considers my family to be her own Tahseen Ali Hassan Husband What lies behind the images? Hassan kidnap timeline

Her husband reiterated her Iraqi links: "Margaret is an Iraqi national and has been living in Iraq for more than 30 years.

"She considers Iraq her homeland. She loves Iraq and its people. She considers my family to be her own.

"This is why she devoted herself and her life to help her people in Iraq," he said.

Speaking in Washington, Iraqi prime minister Dr Iyad Allawi, rejected the kidnappers demands for British troops to leave Iraq.

"We should remain very decisive," he said.

"We hope she will be released. We are doing our best, we are praying for her, and we are exerting our utmost efforts to release her."

The secretary-general of Care International, Denis Caillaux, also pleaded for Mrs Hassan's release.

"Care joins with many of the people whose lives Mrs Hassan has touched over her decades of service in Iraq in reaching out to her captors to appeal to their humanity."

He said the agency, which suspended its activities in Iraq after the kidnapping, was deeply concerned for her welfare.

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The video screened on al-Jazeera showed Mrs Hassan sobbing and pleading to be saved from the same fate as murdered British hostage Ken Bigley.

In the footage, Mrs Hassan said: "Please help me. The British people, tell Mr Blair to take the troops out of Iraq and not bring them here to Baghdad.

"That's why people like myself and Mr Bigley are abducted, and we might die."

Downing Street made no response to the video.