Kidnapped Australian Douglas Wood will rely on his strong Christian faith to cope with being held at gunpoint by terrorists in Iraq, according to an old school friend.
David Edge, who was close to Mr Wood when they attended Geelong College in the 1950s, said the 63-year-old engineer would probably cope with his captivity better than most.
"He was brought up as a Christian, his father was a moderator-general of the Presbyterian Church of Australia," said Mr Edge.
"So, I think he's got a fairly well-developed sense of spirituality which will provide some fortitude, I hope.
"I hope that will stand him in good stead."
Mr Wood's captors, who identified themselves as the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq, released a chilling video yesterday showing him pleading for his life, flanked by two masked men with assault rifles.
"Please help me. I don't want to die," a frightened Mr. Wood says. "President Bush, Prime Minister Howard, Governor Schwarzenegger . . . take the troops out of here and let Iraq look after itself."
However the government, facing its first serious Iraq hostage crisis, made it clear it would neither pay ransom nor allow terrorists to force policy changes.
Mr Howard said he had dreaded the day when an Australian was taken hostage, but the Government would not relent to the demands of pulling troops out of Iraq.
"We can't have the foreign policy of this country dictated by terrorists," he said. "But we've got to do everything we can, nonetheless, to assist this poor man."
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters at the U.N. late Monday saying "We are not sub-contracting our foreign policy to terrorists, and we're certainly not going to have the money of Australian taxpayers expropriated by terrorists."
"Any payment to hostage-takers in Iraq would only encourage more kidnappings in the future."
Canberra has sent an emergency response team to Iraq to coordinate efforts to locate a captured
Defence sources said the team, which includes SAS Arabic speakers and police negotiators, would have to establish whether the terrorists were Islamist fanatics, Sunni insurgents or common criminals.
The US would also send its own Iraq hostage working group into action to support the Australians.