Aid agency Care International has suspended its work in Iraq after the abduction of a Dublin-born woman who heads the independent charity. Today, the husband of Ms Margaret Hassan, made an appeal on Arabic television for her release.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern
The Dáil held a special debate on the kidnapping of Ms Hassan this afternoon and passed a resolution which the Taoiseach said would be sent to television networks in the Middle East. The resolution calls for her immediate release and the release of all hostages in Iraq.
"It is absolutely appalling when the victim of such a crime is a dedicated provider of huminatarian assistance to the Iraqi people - a people who have suffered so much in recent years from war and deprivation," Mr Dermot Ahern, Minister for Foreign Affairs said during the debate.
Care Australia chief executive Mr Robert Glasser said today he believed Ms Hassan was unharmed and that the agency was doing everything it could to secure her release after she was kidnapped in Baghdad yesterday.
"We have heard so far nothing at all. We are doing everything we can," Mr Glasser told BBC Radio.
"We have a lot of people on the ground locally and I am in constant contact with them trying to get updates."
"At the moment we have suspended operations, and we will continue to pull out of the country unless we can resolve this issue."
Ms Hassan's husband, Tahseen Ali Hassan, made an emotional plea for her release today on Al-Arabiya satellite television.
"I would like to tell the kidnappers that we are in the holy month of Ramadan and my wife has been helping Iraq since thirty years and loved this country," said Mr Hassan.
"In the name of humanity, Islam and brotherhood, I appeal to the kidnappers to free her because she has nothing to do with politics."
He said his wife had not received threats and the kidnappers had not contacted anyone with any demands.
In the Dáil this morning, there was cross-party sympathy for the plight of Ms Hassan.
Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny said she had "shown absolute committment and selfless generosity towards the Iraqi people for quite a number of years."
"Her kidnapping is an appalling crime against a woman who has given years of service to her adopted country."
Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte said it was "reprehensible that her liberty is interfered with in this fashion."
Ms Hassan is under contract to Care Australia under the 12-member Care International umbrella. She was born in Dublin but grew up in Britain. She holds both a British and Iraqi passport.
Her sister, Geraldine Riney, lives in Kenmare, Kerry, while other siblings were born in England, where the family moved when Mrs Hassan was a child.
Mr Ahern told the Dáil this morning that the kidnapping was "a terrible deed" and that Irish officials were assisting in trying to secure her freedom.
"She has many friends in this country apart from her family in Kerry.
Mr Ahern added: "We have been talking directly to the family. Officials have been talking to her husband. All of the channels that have been used by all the diplomatic efforts, maily in the British system, because they had links in to the authority in Baghdad, are being used.
"Efforts went on late into the night and early this morning by the Department of Foreign Affairs here.
"We will do everything we can to try to assist in her release." He said the issue would be discussed during a meeting between the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, and the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy today.
Mr Ahern stressed Ms Hassan's Irish connection in an interview last night with Sky television. "We really want to emphasise that Margaret is an Irish citizen," he said. "She has integrated and worked herself into Iraqi life . . . but she is an Irish citizen."
Al Jazeera television aired footage of Ms Hassan after her capture, sitting in a room and looking anxious. She was taken two weeks after kidnappers beheaded Kenneth Bigley, the first British hostage to be killed in Iraq.
Mr Glasser would not elaborate on what steps the agency was taking to free Ms Hassan, who has lived in Iraq for 32 years.
"It would be unhelpful for us to comment on what steps we are taking. Our overwhelming concern has to be for Margaret's safety," he said, adding he had no idea why she had been taken.
In the House of Commons in London Prime Minister Tony Blair repeated his vow that everything possible was being done to secure her release. Tory leader Mr Michael Howard said his party's "thoughts and prayers" were with her family.