Body not Hassan but she is still presumed dead

The mutilated body of a Western woman found in the Iraqi city of Fallujah is definitely not that of Irish-born aid worker Margaret Hassan, the British Foreign Office said today.

Dental tests had proved that the body – found by US Marines last month as they scoured the battle scarred city for militants – was not that of the aid worker, a spokesman said.

However, the spokesman said the British Foreign Office still believed that the 59-year-old had probably been murdered.

Mrs Hassan, the director of CARE International in Iraq, was kidnapped by gunmen on October 19 while on her way to work.

On November 14 a woman’s body was found in Fallujah by US forces. Reports claimed the woman had blonde hair, unlike the brunette Mrs Hassan.

Just two days later, the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera said it had received a videotape showing the murder of a Western woman – believed to be Mrs Hassan.

Her family then released a statement saying that they feared she had been killed by her captors.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said today: “We still believe that Margaret Hassan probably has been murdered.

“You cannot be absolutely certain until you have a body, which we don’t. All the evidence we have is the video footage. As far as we are concerned it demonstrates that she probably has been murdered, but it is not 100% conclusive.”