BAGHDAD - An Australian Muslim cleric in Iraq to negotiate the release of a kidnapped contractor said Thursday after a meeting with Sunni religious leaders he was confident of the hostage's release.
"I am optimistic. I have met members of the Ulema Committee and they will publish a statement tomorrow (Friday) calling for Douglas Wood's release," Australian mufti Sheikh Taj Eldin al-Hilali told AFP.
The Ulema, or Committee of Muslim Scholars, is an influential grouping of Sunni clerics that represents some 3,000 mosques across Iraq and has often mediated the release of foreign hostages.
"I came as a representative of Australia's Muslim community, which is part of the Australian people, in a bid to save Douglas Wood's life and release him," he said.
The sheikh had said a deadline set by Wood's kidnappers for the withdrawal of Australian troops that expired on Tuesday had been extended to midnight Thursday Sydney time (1400 GMT).
However, the Australian government could not confirm the cleric's claim.
In a DVD released last weekend, a badly bruised Wood, 63, is seen pleading for his life as rifles are pointed at his head.
Australia took part in the US-led invasion of March 2003 and still has about 550 troops stationed in Iraq.
05/12/2005 16:15 GMT