Howard facing his worst nightmare
By Cynthia Banham Foreign Affairs
ReporterMay 3, 2005

The Prime Minister, John Howard, said yesterday that he felt "total responsibility" for any harm that might befall Australian hostage Douglas Wood as a result of the Government's policies on Iraq.

Mr Wood, a 63-year-old engineer who has lived in the US with his American wife since 1992, has become the first Australian hostage in Iraq, apart from journalist John Martinkus who was kidnapped by insurgents but released after 24 hours.

Mr Wood said in video that he had been working in Iraq for the US military for almost a year, and he pleaded with the US President George Bush, Mr Howard, and the Californian Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to withdraw US, Australian and British troops from Iraq and "let Iraq look after itself".

Until now Australia - with Britain the US's strongest ally in Iraq - has remained largely free of hostage dramas, while about 200 foreigners have been kidnapped and more than 30 of them executed.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/05/02/1114886315780.html