US embassy cable - 05CANBERRA808

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000808 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, AS, IZ 
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN HOSTAGE CASE: OUTLOOK BLEAK, NEW PLAYERS 
 
REF: CANBERRA 777 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Woo Lee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Australian government expectations for the 
release of the first confirmed Australian hostage in Iraq, 
Douglas Wood, remain low, according to Australian Department 
of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Iraq Task Force Director 
Bassim Blazey.  Prominent Australian Sunni cleric, Sheikh Taj 
Din al-Hilali, the Mufti of Australia, appealed directly to 
the kidnappers for Wood's release in a May 7 video broadcast 
on al-Jazeera.  Sheik al-Hilali is leading a delegation of 
senior Australian Muslims to Iraq on May 9 in an attempt to 
negotiate Wood's release.  The GOA is satisfied with the 
cooperation it has received from the Iraqi Transitional 
Government (ITG), and has appreciated the sensible approach 
of Wood's Australian family.  ITG Vice President Ghazi al 
Yawar suggested to GOA officials that Wood's kidnappers could 
be associated with the Zarqawi network in Iraq, but the GOA 
has no independent information that would support that 
assertion.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) On May 9, Iraq Task Force Director Blazey told 
poloffs that the Australian Government remained pessimistic 
about prospects for the release of Douglas Wood, in part 
because Wood's health was extremely poor and he could die of 
natural causes within one to two weeks without the medicines 
he had been taking.  Blazey said the Australian Embassy in 
Baghdad had a package of drugs ready to pass on to Wood 
through any interlocutor who might be able to negotiate on 
his behalf. 
 
3.  (C) A second video released to al-Jazeera on May 7 by the 
kidnappers demanded that Australia withdraw its troops from 
Iraq within 72 hours.  The video did not make clear, however, 
when the 72-hour period was to start.  According to Blazey, 
the GOA had also learned that Hassan Zadaan, the 
controversial Sunni tribal sheikh and former general in 
Saddam Hussein's army who had been reported in the press as 
trying to negotiate on Wood's behalf, was in fact not in 
direct contact with the hostage takers after all. 
 
4.  (U) Meanwhile, the Mufti of Australia, Sunni Sheikh 
al-Hilali, announced that he would be leading a delegation 
today to Baghdad to attempt to secure Wood's release.  The 
Mufti had appealed to the kidnappers directly through a May 7 
al-Jazeera broadcast and told the Australian press that he 
had been in touch with Sunni scholars in Iraq.  The Sheikh 
said he was hoping at the very least to obtain a 48-hour 
extension to the captors' deadline. 
 
5.  (U) Sheikh al-Hilali's statements on al-Jazeera did not 
support U.S. policy in Iraq, suggesting instead that Wood 
should be released because he and most Australians disagreed 
with U.S. policy.  "We value your jihad and your efforts and 
we call upon you to do something for the sake of our 
community and all Australian society, which does not support 
(Prime Minister John) Howard's pro-American policies," said 
al-Hilali to the kidnappers.  "You know the Australian forces 
in Iraq are protected by American forces and don't do 
anything - it's all politics."  Sheikh Hilali told the 
Australian media that he had explained to the kidnappers that 
local Muslims understood their desire to liberate their 
country and make it independent, but that kidnappings 
reflected poorly on the Islamic community in Australia. 
Blazey noted that Sheikh al-Hilali had in the past called for 
the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. 
 
6.  (C) Blazey emphasized that the Sheikh's visit was a 
private initiative -- the result of his meeting with Wood's 
brothers at Sydney's Lakemba Mosque.  The GOA was not 
involved in visit planning, although it welcomed any effort 
that might lead to the Australian's release.  Blazey said the 
Australian Government would be willing to put the Muslim 
cleric on a C-130 to Baghdad if requested, but that the 
cleric had so far not asked for GOA support. 
 
7.  (C) Blazey corrected media claims that the Wood family 
was contemplating paying a ransom.  They were, however, 
considering making conciliatory statements through the media 
sympathizing with the suffering of Iraqis or donating to a 
charity, in the hope of inducing Wood's release.  The Wood 
family had been very cooperative and seemed supportive of the 
government's handling of the case to date, Blazey commented. 
 
8.  (C) Blazey also told us that Trade Minister Mark Vaile, 
who had called ITG Prime Minister Ja'fari on May 7 to discuss 
the problem of off-loading Australian wheat shipments to 
Iraq, had thanked Ja'fari for the ITG's help in Wood's case. 
The Australian Emergency Response Team, lead by DFAT Deputy 
Secretary Nick Warner (reftel), had met with Interior 
 
SIPDIS 
Minister Bayan Jabor on May 8 and found him helpful.  In a 
meeting with Vice President Ghazi al Yawar, the team had been 
told that Wood's kidnappers were associated with the 
al-Zarqawi network.  Blazey said, however, that the GOA did 
not have any other information that tracked with that 
assertion. 
 
9.  (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
STANTON