The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
problem will
be exacerbated. We judge that at that stage, there could be a
risk
of sectarian
violence.”
In late
September and early October, there was extensive media coverage in
Iraq and the
UK of the
kidnapping and murder of two UK citizens: Mr Kenneth Bigley, a
civil engineer
working
under contract on a reconstruction project, and Mrs Margaret
Hassan, Iraq
Director of
Care International.
A JIC
Assessment on 11 November recorded that more than 230 foreigners,
and many
more
Iraqis, had been kidnapped since March 2003.80
The JIC
judged that Islamist
terrorists
had been responsible for the majority of the high profile incidents
and their
attacks
were forcing many organisations to stop working in
Iraq.
Mr Bigley
was kidnapped in Baghdad on 16 September 2004, along with two of
his US
colleagues,
Mr Jack Hensley and Mr Eugene Armstrong, both of whom were
beheaded
Mr Bigley’s
kidnapping prompted the FCO to update its travel advice to
say:
“… we urge
all British nationals in Iraq to consider whether their presence in
Iraq is
essential
at this time … Any British nationals in Iraq should, as a matter of
urgency,
review
their security arrangements and protection and seek professional
advice
on whether
they are adequate. These arrangements should cover: security at
the
workplace,
at the place of residence and travel. Where security is not
adequate,
British
nationals should either immediately move to premises within guarded
areas
and avoid
unprotected travel outside these more secure areas, or leave Iraq
as soon
Mr Bigley
was beheaded by his captors on 7 October.83
The murders
were attributed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.84
The JIC had
described him in
March 2004
as being “the most important terrorist leader in
Iraq”.85
Mr Chaplin
reported that the murder had been “universally condemned” in Iraq
and that
the “sense
of shock was palpable”.86
He went on
to note:
“Unfortunately
beheading has become all too common. In the last week there
have
been at
least nine other people who have been beheaded including one
woman,
and a 15
year old Kurdish boy whose body was also burnt.”
Mrs Hassan,
who was married to an Iraqi citizen and a long-term resident of the
country,
was
kidnapped in Baghdad on 19 October.87
Her captors
released film of her requesting
80
JIC
Assessment, 11 November 2004, ‘Iraq Security – Current
Concerns’.
81
The
Guardian, 16
September 2004, Briton
among three kidnapped in Baghdad;
The
Guardian,
21 September
2004, Second US
hostage murdered.
82
FCO Travel
Advice for Iraq, 18 September 2004.
83
The
Guardian, 8 October
2004, Hostage Ken
Bigley is killed.
84
CIG
Assessment, 19 April 2005, ‘Al-Zarqawi Threatens UK Forces in
Iraq’.
85
JIC
Assessment, 10 March 2004, ‘Islamist Extremism: The Iraq
Jihad’.
86
Telegram
286 Baghdad to FCO London, 15 October 2004, ‘Iraq: Internal:
Political Round Up
9-15
October’.
87
The
Guardian, 19 October
2004, Charity
worker kidnapped in Iraq.
424