LONDON, Oct 19: A British-Iraqi woman working as the head of Care International in Iraq was abducted in Baghdad early on Tuesday, just over two weeks after kidnappers beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley.

Margaret Hassan, who has dual nationality and has been working for Care in Iraq for more than a decade, was seized by kidnappers at 7:30am, a spokeswoman told Reuters.

Al Jazeera television later aired footage of Ms Hassan after her capture, sitting in a room and looking anxious. The station showed close-ups of Ms Hassan's identification cards and said the video was accompanied by a claim of responsibility from an unnamed Iraqi group.

The Care spokeswoman declined to say whether she was in a vehicle at the time of the abduction, or whether she was alone.

She also said she had no idea who had kidnapped Ms Hassan, or what their demands might be, but was keen to stress that she saw herself as part of the Iraqi community.

"We want to stress that she sees herself as an Iraqi. Iraq is her home. She has been living there for many years and would never consider coming back to Britain," the spokeswoman said.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was "very concerned" by the kidnap. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to her, her family and her colleagues," he told reporters.-Reuters