The British and Irish governments have called for the immediate release of Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped director of CARE International in Iraq, with London saying the videotape showing her crying was "extremely distressing." "I have the greatest sympathy for what her family is suffering," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in a statement late Friday. "Margaret Hassan has spent more than 30 years working for the Iraqi people. We hope all Iraqis will join us in calling for her immediate release." "The video of Margaret Hassan which has been released by her kidnappers is extremely distressing," he said. The video, aired by the Arabic television station Al-Jazeera on Friday, showed her weeping and pleading with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq. She said she might be killed like British hostage Kenneth Bigley, who was beheaded by his captors earlier this month. Hassan, an Irish-British-Iraqi national, was abducted Tuesday in Baghdad. She had been doing relief work in Iraq for three decades. --more 1610 Local Time 1310 GMT
