A MILITANT group holding Australian engineer Douglas Wood hostage in Iraq has given Canberra 72 hours to start withdrawing troops from the country in another video message released overnight. Mr Wood's family was today said to be shocked and horrified by the latest development. ABC radio said Douglas Wood's brother Malcolm had issued a statement following the broadcast of the tape, which showed Mr Wood with two machineguns being held to his head.In the video, the 63-year-old engineer called on the Australian Government to pull its troops out of Iraq within 72 hours, but gave no indication of what would happen if the ultimatum was not met. Malcolm Wood said the family were shocked, but did not believe the kidnappers' demands would make any difference to the policies of the Government. The family statement urged his captors to think of Mr Wood as a brother and called on them to release him unharmed. In the video, a shaven-headed Mr Wood was shown sitting on the floor holding up an identity photo that appeared to be his passport.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, attending the United Nations in New York, rang Douglas Wood's American wife to offer support after viewing the new tape. "She's being very brave and she is strong and as you can imagine she is obviously tremendously concerned and upset," he told the ABC.Mr Downer said he understood that people would find the new tape upsetting and that it showed Mr Wood was not being well treated by his captors. "I know people will be upset by the tape, but we just need to keep the work going and attempt to get him released," he said. "We have no indication why his head would be shaved. It seems to be an occasional practice by these people." On the Federal Government's response to the kidnappers' demands, he said it was obvious Australia could not give in to them, and that "we just have to be concerned with getting Mr Wood out".