Sheik gives Iraq hostage hope
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- An Australian hostage being held by Islamic militants in Iraq is probably still alive, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said.
Downer was speaking after reports an Iraqi Sunni sheik contacted to help free Australian hostage Douglas Wood in Iraq has reportedly promised to get the hostage released alive.
"'This is an extremely delicate situation. I think our best statement is that we are optimistic that we can still succeed but there is still a long way to go. We just can't be sure but we haven't given up hope," Downer told Australia's national broadcaster ABC Radio.
Journalist Paul McGeough, from Australia's Fairfax media group is quoted in media reports Friday saying Sheik Hassan Zadaan has promised to return 63-year old Wood alive after being shown a video of the hostages family pleading for his life.
"It is highly probable that he laid eyes on Douglas Wood," McGeough said.
McGeough, who is based in Iraq, said he understood Wood was being held about 30 kilometers (20 miles) outside of Baghdad in the south-west of the city.
He said the sheik reported that Wood's captors appeared to be Islamic extremists possibly connected with the network of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.
The sheik is reported to have been contacted by the Australian Government's negotiation team in Iraq, which is also being supported by officials from the United Nations, United States, Britain and Iraq.
Engineer Wood, who has been working in Iraq, has not been heard from since his captors released a video of him on Monday, pleading for his life.
Downer told CNN that he was confident Wood was still alive was probably being held for political purposes, not just to raise money via a ransom.
"We're certainly confident that he is still alive," Downer said before adding that there were serious concerns about his health as he suffers from a major heart problem.
Under the Howard government, Australia has been a strong supporter of the Bush administration and has contributed forces and equipment to the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Australian sent 2,000 troops, along with ships and aircraft, to take part in the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 and later reduced the number to about 950 after the ousting of Saddam Hussein.
Howard's decision to take part in the war was not popular, but voters returned his center-right coalition to power in October last year and rejected an opposition candidate who had promised to withdraw if elected.
In February, Howard announced that about 450 additional Australian soldiers would be sent to the south of the country to help protect Japanese engineers based there and to assist in training Iraqi soldiers.
Those forces arrived last month. There have been no Australian forces killed so far in Iraq, though several have been injured.
