re: woods taken to secret location
Wood to be moved to secret Middle East location Thu 16 Jun 2005
Douglas Wood will be moved to a secret location, Mr Downer says. Source: ReutersSource: ABC
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has told Parliament freed Australian hostage Douglas Wood will be moved out of Baghdad today.
Mr Wood has been rescued after being held for 47 days by Iraqi insurgents.
"Mr Wood is now being protected by the Australian emergency response team in Baghdad," Mr Downer said.
"He's undergone medical checks and the house will be pleased to know that he is well, he's spoken on the phone to members of his family.
"We expect that Mr Wood will move out of Iraq during the course of today Baghdad time and go to another location in the Middle East - we won't say publicly where that location is, in order to avoid a media scrum on his arrival."
Trauma
Meanwhile, a clinical psychologist says it will take some time to determine how Mr Wood has been affected by his 47 days in captivity.
Dr Kerry Gruber from the University of Southern Queensland says that one third of all people who endure traumatic events develop significant post traumatic stress disorders.
She says it is incredibly hard to predict who will be affected.
But Dr Gruber says the fact that Mr Wood requested a beer and information about the Geelong Football Club shows he is probably still psychologically numb.
"The fact that he'd be focusing on those kind of events, as much as it seems as though he's doing extremely well and that is a possibility that he's just incredibly resilient, it's probably more likely that he's still in the psychological protective mode," she said.
She says Mr Wood probably does not feel entirely safe yet and it is important he receives some form of counselling when he returns to his old life.
"Given that he's still ... hasn't seen his family yet etc, he probably doesn't feel entirely comfortable that he's away from the danger yet so he's still to some extent psychologically in protective mode," she said.
Support
Brother Vernon Wood say the family will now concentrate on supporting their freed brother.
"We're all being very careful of not pushing Doug too far - the psychological damage could be significant," he said.
Malcolm Wood spoke of his brother's resilience.
"How Doug coped during the captivity of 47 days is hard for any of us to imagine but he's a person who has inner strength," he said.
Gratitude
Prime Minister John Howard says he has spoken with the Iraqi Prime Minister and conveyed the gratitude of all Australians about the safe release of Douglas Wood.
Mr Howard says Iraqi troops were responsible for raiding the home in which Douglas Wood was being held, and his freedom is a sign of the growing competence of the local security forces.
He again voiced his relief at Mr Wood's safe recovery.
"This is a remarkable event - I think perhaps only two or three out of the several thousand people who've been taken hostage in Iraq have been rescued - now that is amazing," he said.
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Maybe they want to instill in him the official "script" of exactly how he came to be released? "No, no, Mr Woods, you WERENT held captive by rogue Iraqi troops, you were RESCUED by Iraqi troops, you hear? You were NOT released, you were rescued! Do you expect us to recognise the efforts of the evil Sheik to secure your release? 'Course not. Now repeat after me......."
