American marines have found the mutilated body of a Western woman as they searched for militants still holding out in Fallujah.
The woman could not be immediately identified, but Irishwoman Mrs Margaret Hassan and a Polish woman are the only Western women known to have been taken hostage in Iraq.
The disembowelled body of the woman was found wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket on a street yesterday, marines said. The body could not be identified without further tests.
Mrs Hassan (59) and Ms Teresa Borcz Khalifa (54), a Polish-born long-time resident of Iraq, were abducted last month.
Mrs Hassan - director of CARE international in Baghdad with Irish, Iraqi and British nationality - was seized by gunmen on her way to work in western Baghdad on October 19th. She has lived in Iraq for 30 years and heads humanitarian group Care International's operations in the country.
Hours after the kidnapping, video footage of the hostage, her hands bound behind her back and looking "very distressed", was released.
Reports claim that the body of the woman found in Fallujah had blonde hair, unlike brunette Mrs Hassan. But CARE international said today that it is waiting for conclusive details from Iraqi authorities about the discovery.
AP