BAGHDAD, Oct 19 (AFP) - The Irish-British head of Iraq operations for leading charity CARE International was kidnapped in Baghdad on Tuesday, further fueling fears that aid workers were vulnerable targets for insurgents.
Margaret Hassan was seized at 7:30 am (0430 GMT) on her way to work in Baghdad, CARE officials said.
Hassan, who has lived in Iraq for 30 years, has both British and -- through her husband -- Iraqi citizenship. Late Tuesday Irish officials said Hassan had been born in Ireland and that they would do everything to secure her release.
Neighbours of Baghdad's CARE office said the kidnappers could be criminals seeking a financial windfall or militants trying to pressure London, which is considering a US request to redeploy British troops in Iraq.
"As of now we are unaware of the motive for the abduction," CARE said in a statement. "As far as we know, Margaret is unharmed."
Hassan, thought to be in her 50s, has worked for CARE International in Iraq since 1992 and has lived for more than 30 years in the country, a CARE spokeswoman in London told AFP.
She appeared Tuesday in a video on Al-Jazeera Arab-language satellite television, seated on a sofa and looking unharmed, but visibly distressed.
An Al-Jazeera news editor told AFP that the station had received the footage after she was kidnapped, but gave no further details.
It was still unclear who was holding Hassan.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair strongly condemned the kidnapping, and said London would work to secure her release.
"This is someone who has lived in Iraq for 30 years, someone who is immensely respected, someone who is doing their level best to help the country," Blair said at a press conference held with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
"I think it shows you the type of people we are up against, that they are prepared to kidnap somebody like this," he said, adding that the government did not know what group was behind Hassan's capture.
Neighbours expressed outrage over her kidnapping and said they thought it was for money or to embarrass the British government, still reeling from the three-week drama of Ken Bigley's kidnapping and execution.
"The captors are probably trying to convey a message to Britain. In such a case, she is the wrong target. She's been living here for years. Her husband is an Iraqi," said neighbor Khalid Sahaleed in the western Baghdad area of Jamiya.
Another neighbour said: "I think she was taken hostage because she was the head of an organisation in Iraq and those who took her thought they would be making money by kidnapping her. It can't be for any other reason."
CARE, a non-governmental organization with a presence in at least 72 countries, has been active in Iraq since 1991. Following the 2003 war it has focused efforts on providing emergency relief and medical aid, and restoring access to clean water.
It has 30 employees, all Iraqis, in its Baghdad office. It pulled all foreigners out of the country last November.
Hassan was an employee of CARE Australia, which had responsibility for running the charity's operations in Iraq, a CARE Australia spokeswoman told AFP.
She was one of the most experienced Iraq hands among aid workers in the country, and opted to stay on after the US-British offensive in March 2003 to continue her work.
An Irish foreign office spokesman in Dublin said Hassan had been "born in Ireland and is an Irish citizen." The British Foreign Office, which had earlier given her place of birth as London, later said she had been born in Dublin.
"I am deeply concerned to hear of the kidnapping of Margaret Hassan in Iraq and I call for her immediate and unconditional release," Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern said.
"I and my officials stand ready to contribute in any way we can to help secure her release," he added.
Ireland, which has been neutral in the Iraq conflict, tried unsuccessfully to save the British hostage Ken Bigley, beheaded earlier this month, by issuing him an Irish passport on the grounds his mother was Irish.
European Union aid commissioner Poul Nielson said he was "appalled" at Hassan's plight.
The kidnapping follows a slew of hostage-taking and murders by several insurgent groups, including that of British contractor Bigley, who was beheaded earlier in October.
Several other women aid workers have been kidnapped but later released.
Italians Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, 29-year-olds working for the Italy-based humanitarian organization A Bridge to Baghdad, were released on September 28 after three weeks in captivity.
Some 150 foreigners have been seized since April, and more than 30 of them have been killed by their captors.