DOHA, Oct 22 (AFP) - British aid worker Margaret Hassan, kidnapped in Iraq, begged Prime Minister Tony Blair to save her life by calling off the planned redeployment of British troops close to Baghdad, in a video broadcast by Al-Jazeera Friday.
"Please help me, please help me, these might be my last hours," a sobbing Hassan said on the tape, heard in English. "I will die like Mr (Kenneth) Bigley", the British hostage executed in Iraq earlier this month.
"Ask Mr Blair to pull the (British) forces out of Iraq and not to bring them to Baghdad," she said, in other comments which were only audible through an Arabic voiceover.
Her plea came one day after Britain agreed to an unprecedented US request to redeploy 850 troops to the Babil province south and southwest of Baghdad, freeing up US soldiers for an expected assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
The soldiers from the Black Watch battalion had been stationed in the south of Iraq, a relatively calm region compared to the rebel heartlands near Baghdad.
"Please help me, O Britons," said Hassan, a dual British and Irish national who married an Iraqi and has lived in Iraq for 30 years. She was kidnapped on her way to work Tuesday.
The international relief agency CARE, of which Hassan is local director, announced it was suspending operations in Iraq after her abduction.
"This is why people like me and Mr Bigley are kidnapped and could die," she said in reference to the British military presence in Iraq, according to the Arabic translation.
Bigley had been abducted in Baghdad in September by the extremist Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) insurgent group along with two US colleagues who were also beheaded.
No group has claimed responsibility for Hassan's abduction.
"Please, please, please, I beg of you" to help, Hassan said, in another part heard in English as she broke down in tears.
Hassan was seen with a white wall in the background, but her presumed abductors were not shown in the footage aired by Al-Jazeera. Footage of her identification documents was also aired.
Hassan's abduction follows a series of hostage-taking and murders by several insurgent groups in Iraq.
Several other women aid workers have been kidnapped but later released.
The harrowing tape is set to increase the pressure on Blair's government, which took the decision to redeploy the troops against a background of public fears of increased casualties and criticism that the timing was dictated by the US presidential elections.
10/22/2004 14:32 GMT - AFP