Iraqi husband of murdered aid worker to accept award

The Iraqi husband of murdered aid worker Margaret Hassan is arriving in Ireland this week to accept the State's most prestigious…

The Iraqi husband of murdered aid worker Margaret Hassan is arriving in Ireland this week to accept the State's most prestigious peace prize on her behalf.

Irish-born Ms Hassan (59) spent nearly half her life delivering food and medicine in Iraq, where she had lived for 30 years. She was kidnapped in Baghdad in October last year and a month later a video of her apparent murder was released, although her body was never found.

Tasheen Hassan has accepted an invitation to receive the Tipperary International Peace Award on Friday as part of the Tipperary International Festival of Peace being held over the weekend, festival spokesman Martin Quinn confirmed.

The Baghdad-based economist, who married the aid worker in 1972, will receive a specially commissioned Waterford Crystal award from the Peace Convention Committee.

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A Peace Convention statement said: "In honouring the life of Margaret Hassan, the Peace Convention recognises her tireless work for the Iraqi people over 30 years, which she dedicated to the poor and vulnerable and to those who were most in need in her adopted country."

Margaret Hassan became involved in the Middle East in the 1960s when she worked in the Palestinian refugee camps.

She spent many years living and working in Iraq, and from 1991 worked for aid agency Care International.

Previous recipients of the Tipperary International Peace Award have included Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton and Bob Geldof.