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The kidnappers of British hostage Margaret Hassan have threatened to hand her over to an al-Qaida-related group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Margaret Hassan, head of Care International in Iraq,  was taken hostage by Iraqi militants early October 19, 2004 and urged British forces to withdraw from Iraq. She said that she could face the same fate as British hostage Kenneth Bigley, who was decapitated by his captors earlier this month. Al-Jazeera said on Tuesday that an unnamed group had abducted her.Hassan married to an Iraqi and has dual British and Iraqi nationality. She is known as a strong supporter of the Iraqis. She has lived in Iraq for 30 years. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)  Margaret Hassan, a British-born woman working as the head of Care International in Iraq was kidnapped in Baghdad early October 19, 2004. A spokeswoman for Care International in London said Margaret Hassan was an Iraqi national who had lived in Iraq for about 30 years and had worked for the charity there since the early 1990s. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)  Ireland's Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern (R 1st), and sisters of Margaret Hassan, who has been abducted in Iraq early October 19, 2004, called for the release of the hostage in Dublin, Nov.2, 2004.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    BEIJING, Nov. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The kidnappers of British hostage Margaret Hassan have threatened to hand her over to an al-Qaida-related group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi unless their demands - including the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq - are met within 48 hours.

    The kidnappers broadcast the warning in a new video tape that showed Mrs Hassan, who has joint British, Irish and Iraqi nationality, in a state of severe distress.

    Mrs Hassan, the director of the humanitarian organization CARE International in Iraq, was abducted last month in Baghdad. No group has claimed responsibility for her kidnapping.

    The British government has consistently refused to enter into negotiations with kidnappers, and the foreign office declined to comment on the latest development.

(CRIENGLISH.com)