Free Republic

IT WAS ten days ago that rumours began circulating in Baghdad that Margaret Hassan had been murdered, but it was not until last Thursday that a video of her murder was given to the Arab satellite station al-Jazeera. The station decided not to broadcast the film. Instead it contacted British diplomats who sent a specialist team to the network’s headquarters in Qatar. At first the experts could not be sure it was Mrs Hassan who could be seen blindfolded and kneeling on the floor before being shot with a pistol at point blank range. One official who has seen the...