Canada says first Canadian hostage taken in Iraq

New York, Apr 09: A Canadian humanitarian aid worker for the international rescue committee has been taken hostage by a local militia in southern Iraq, the agency said.
Fadhi Ihsan Fadel was the first Canadian to be abducted in Iraq, Canadian foreign affairs spokesman Sameer Ahmed said in Toronto yesterday.

The international rescue committee said that Fadel, a 33-year-old Syrian-born Canadian citizen, was abducted early Wednesday morning Iraq time from the IRC residence in Najaf.
Fadel manages a UNICEF funded programme that provides humanitarian assistance for vulnerable children and youth in southern Iraq, the New York-based IRC said in a statement on its web site.

These activities have included the rehabilitation of a youth centre, the distribution of wheelchairs to injured children in Najaf and support to local schools, the IRC said. Fadel is a committed humanitarian aid worker who is in Iraq solely to assist conflict-affected Iraqi communities. On humanitarian grounds, we appeal to his captors to release him unharmed," the agency said. The Canadian foreign affairs department said "we are currently seeking further information on his status, whereabouts and well-being and hope he will be released soon."

Bureau Report