>>Fears grow for Australian shield
April 01, 2003
THERE are mounting fears for the safety of Adelaide woman Ruth
Russell who is in Iraq acting as a human shield.
Ruth Russell farewells her children
Amanda and Ashley at Adelaide airport in February / The Advertiser
Her friend Denise Tzumli today said
she had not heard from Mrs Russell for a week, and had read internet reports that a grains silo complex in Iraq had been bombed.
Mrs Russell, 55, had been stationed at a food silo at Taji, about 20km north-west of Baghdad, after arriving in Iraq about a month ago.
Before leaving Australia, the mother-of-two said she was prepared to die for the anti-war cause.
Ms Tzumli said she would today telephone an office in Iraq set up to aid the human shields, seeking news about her friend.
"There's only one food silo compound that's part of the human shields' network, and that's where Ruth is," Ms Tzumli told ABC Radio.
"The compound has been hit. Not the silo itself, but it's a near miss, if it's been a miss (at all), so I'm worried."
Mrs Russell previously told friends she felt safe at the silo, but expressed concern about travelling into Baghdad.
Another Australian human shield, Donna Mulhearn from NSW, has fled Baghdad for Amman in Jordan before what is expected to be a bloody battle for the capital. <<
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