Margaret Hassan: 'a martyr for truth, generosity and service to others'

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has expressed his horror and shame at the news of the murder in Iraq of aid worker Margaret Hassan. Speaking on BBC2's Newsnight last night he described Mrs Hassan as "a martyr for truth, generosity and service to others." The Cardinal said he had visited Margaret Hassan's sisters in Dublin last week and had spoken with one of her sisters last night. "I feel a great sense of shame and deep deep distress that this could have happened" he said. "I feel completely at one with my Moslem colleagues who are totally appalled at this violence which is so completely at odds with the Islamic precepts of mercy and justice." The Cardinal said: "We must do all we can to help the Iraqi people find stability and peace."