http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Wood-is-still-alive-Iraqis-tell-Mufti/2005/05/14/1116024406446.htmlAustralian hostage Douglas Wood was still alive and the conditions for his safe release were expected to arrive within 48 hours, Australia’s Muslim leader Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali said from Iraq yesterday.
Sheik Alhilali contacted his former spokesman Keysar Trad at 2.30pm yesterday with the following news: “While everyone I meet is being very careful with me, I have been assured that Mr Wood is safe and well and that the deadline [for Australia to pull out its troops] has now been extended indefinitely.
“While I am told the conditions for his release are likely to be strict, I am led to believe they will arrive in one or two days.”
Sheik Alhilali’s comments were backed up last night by reports that an Iraqi television station had received a letter, reportedly from Mr Wood’s kidnappers, which stated they had extended the deadline.
Mr Wood has been held by a rebel group, the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Iraq, for two weeks. Their 72-hour deadline for Australia to pull its troops out of Iraq has long passed.
No official word had been received from the kidnappers since last Saturday when they released a DVD of Mr Wood appearing battered and bruised.
But when Sheik Alhilali arrived in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, carrying what is believed to be a seven-figure “charitable donation” from the Wood family, it sparked fresh hope that the 63-year-old engineer’s life might be spared.
For three days Sheik Alhilali has walked the streets of Baghdad. Strangers have pleaded with the cleric for a chance to accompany him on his mission, be it as bodyguards or tour guides, Sheik Alhilali has said. But the only thing he has been seeking is a link to Mr Wood’s kidnappers. Mr Trad said that breakthrough arrived early yesterday.
He said: “The sheik is being told by very senior people that go-betweens are well and truly on their way and that negotiations will then take place.
“He won’t tell me who has told him this. But what he has stated is that these comments have arrived through one of the many meetings he has had, such as those with the Committee of Sunni Scholars, over the past few days.”
The sheik has also been informed that Mr Wood’s interpreter and a second Iraqi connected to him were taken hostage.
Mr Trad said: “The Mufti believes this may not have been publicised because the kidnappers had nothing to gain by doing so.”
The Mufti explained to Mr Trad that everyone had been very guarded with him.
“They trust him, that’s the good thing,” said Mr Trad.
“They have now had time to access some of his speeches and work. They know everything there is to know about him.
“But reading between the lines, they are also very aware he will be debriefed at the end of his mission, if he likes it or not.
“As a result of this, information from the kidnappers is now reaching him, but at the same time, everyone is remaining two steps back.”
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Guess Who Came To Dinner To Plan A Rescue?
By Eamonn DuffMay 15, 2005The Sun-Heraldhttp://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Guess-who-came-to-dinner-to-plan-a-rescue/2005/05/14/1116024406559.htmlIt was the moment the Minister, the Mufti and a Muslim community spokesman set aside their differences to cement a plan to save Iraqi hostage Douglas Wood.It was Saturday May 7, and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock and his wife, Heather, left their Pennant Hills home and headed to the heart of Sydney’s Muslim community.
Weeks earlier they accepted an invitation to share an informal meal with Lebanese Muslim spokesman Keysar Trad, his wife and children, for a chance for the men to see “a different side to one another”.
A gentleman’s agreement was brokered to put politics aside. And so the Ruddocks and the Trads dined on prawns, fish fillets, chicken, stuffed grape leaves and rice and discussed the joys of parenthood and the pressures of family life. But as both couples tucked into their desserts, a third man – Australia’s leading Muslim cleric Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali – arrived, requesting a private meeting with Mr Ruddock and Mr Trad to discuss the hostage crisis.
For several minutes the atmosphere was tense. The Sun-Herald can reveal the Mufti had earlier refused to attend the evening because of a personal row with Mr Trad. Mr Ruddock and Mr Trad in turn have traded countless verbal blows over the years regarding immigration and security issues.
To complicate matters, Mr Ruddock has publicly dubbed Sheik Alhilali’s outspoken comments as “highly inappropriate” on more than one occasion. And yet the three men were now congregated on a back patio in Bankstown, with Mr Trad acting as interpreter as the Mufti told the Minister he wanted to travel to Baghdad to broker Mr Wood’s release.
Mr Ruddock voiced deep concern for the Sheik’s safety. But, as Mr Ruddock discovered, he was going with or without his approval, responding: “If I am to die on this mission, then so be it.”
Mr Trad reported Mr Ruddock saying: “As a representative of the Australian Government, I wish to make it clear that I am not asking you to go, the Government is not asking you to go. In fact, if you do go, there is concern we could have another situation on our hands.”
He said the Mufti then delivered words with which Mr Ruddock could not argue: “I am duty and honour-bound to make this attempt to save Mr Wood.
If I lose my life in the attempt, this would be a mark of honour for me and I would be proud to make the attempt.”