Sheik Taj Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly, the spiritual head of Australia’s Muslim community on a mission to save Australian infidel hostage Douglas Wood, has claimed that Mr Wood might be released, thanks to the Sheik’s own efforts.
Hopes for the release of Douglas Wood soared yesterday after the hostage was allowed to make a phone call in which he assured the Australian cleric Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly he was alive and well.“I’m all right,” said the hostage of 20 days, before repeating the Arabic term for thank you: “Shukran, shukran.”This dramatic end to a cruel 11-day silence on the fate of Mr Wood came late on Tuesday, when a stranger approached the mufti in the lobby of the Babylon Hotel. Proffering a mobile phone, he said: “There’s a call for you.”Claiming he was certain that the Australian accent he heard was that of Mr Wood, Sheik Hilaly said: “One of the people who say they are holding him told me they would put Douglas Wood on the line – that is all he was allowed to say.”The mufti predicted Mr Wood could be released within days. Asked for the basis of his prediction, Sheik Hilaly pointed to his upper chest and then his stomach: “I know it in my heart and in my gut.”
Either that, or it is something else he is feeling in his heart.
As the Herald arrived at the Babylon Hotel yesterday the mufti and his party were checking out. He said he was going to Dubai for medical treatment and that he would remain in the region. The mufti, who had cancelled heart surgery scheduled on Monday to come to Iraq, said he could be back in Baghdad in a day or two.
Color me skeptical about this whole scenario. And I’m in good company.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, responded to the news of the call with great caution.Confirming that the mufti had reported it to the Australian rescue taskforce in Baghdad, Mr Howard said: “We’d all hope that it’s right. But we’d also be aware in a situation like this, there are always people who may be representing to [the mufti] things that are not correct.“
Either that, or the mufti was misquoted. Hey, it’s been known to happen. In any event, I hope Mr Wood is released and reunited with his family as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the “brave” Sheik is not just battling ill health to save Mr Wood. No sirree. He is also at risk of being kidnapped himself – at least that is what his spokesperson is claiming.
The Muslim cleric negotiating in Iraq to free Australian hostage Douglas Wood has been advised to keep a low profile amid concerns he could also be kidnapped.Australian cleric Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly’s spokesman in Australia, Keysar Trad, said today the Sheik, who claims to have spoken to Mr Wood and his captors in Iraq, had been told to “remain inconspicuous” by “Iraqi well-wishers” unconnected to Mr Wood’s captors.
But – and wait for this – the potential kindpappers are not who you might think.
“They said there’s nothing more you can achieve by remaining conspicuous and with the level of lawlessness, and the area that he’s in, that he may well end up being kidnapped by a pro-American gang.“They said if one of those gangs gets him, they’d be in it for the money, they might think that he’s holding money from the Wood family, now that he’s made a breakthrough it might be better that he’s not easily locatable.”Mr Trad said he last spoke with the sheik on Tuesday, and talked to his guide yesterday afternoon.He described the “pro-American gangs” as gangs the US-led “occupying forces” turn a blind eye to.
However, it goes without saying that
Mr Trad said he was not aware of any specific evidence the sheikh was in imminent danger of being kidnapped.
