Renewed effort to find aid worker’s remains

High-level diplomatic eff-orts are under way in a renewed attempt to locate the remains of murdered Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan and bring her killers to justice.

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs have been working behind the scenes to put pressure on Egyptian authorities to detain a female suspect residing in that country.

It is alleged the woman, who is married to another suspect, was translator for the kidnap gang that abducted and executed Mrs Hassan in Iraq in 2004 and knows where her body is buried.

Ireland’s ambassador to Egypt met with the deputy foreign minister in Cairo in recent weeks and is planning another meeting soon to seek a progress report.

Ambassador Isolde Moylan’s actions followed the dismay of Mrs Hassan’s family when they discovered that the suspect, Khaldoon Siddeeq, was recently in custody in Egypt on a different matter but was freed before being questioned about their sister’s murder.

Her whereabouts are unknown and one of Mrs Hassan’s sisters, Geraldine Riney, who lives in Kenmare, Co Kerry, said the family feared she would flee to Kurdistan, where her family has business.

“She is the wife of one suspect and as far as we know the sister of another. She undoubtedly has information and it’s vital that she be questioned.”

Siddeeq’s release was the latest setback for Mrs Hassan’s family. Four suspects were tried in Iraq but one absconded from prison while awaiting an appeal hearing, another has been freed from jail, and two others were acquitted.

The family learned recently that Siddeeq’s husband, Sheikh Hussein al Zubayi, who is suspected of several other kidnappings, was with her when she was held but was not detained.

Mrs Riney said she took hope from the approaches being made on their behalf. “This was our ninth Christmas without Margaret. It never goes away — it’s with us all the time. We want to find her remains and give her a proper burial. Every lead has to be followed up. We want justice for her.”

Mrs Hassan, 59, who was director of the Iraq branch of CARE International, was also a British passport holder and British authorities are trying to make progress. The UK foreign secretary raised Margaret’s case with the Iraqi foreign minister in September and continued to follow developments closely.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was providing assistance to Mrs Hassan’s family.