The mother of a Canadian believed abducted in Iraq fears her son may be dead. Foreign Affairs says it can only confirm Mohammed Rifat is "in detention."

CTV.ca News Staff

The mother of a Canadian man believed abducted in Iraq fears her son may be dead. Foreign Affairs says it can only confirm Rifat Mohammed Rifat is "in detention."

Rifat was last heard from on April 8, when he was reportedly seen leaving his construction job at a prison west of Baghdad.

His mother, Suryi Nasshat, spoke to CTV's Matt McClure through a translator at her home in Baghdad on Wednesday. She appealed for whoever has her son to think of the anguish she is feeling, and set him free.

"I ask God to save him," she said. "I give my heart."

The parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, Dan McTeague, said Ottawa has learned very little about Rifat's situation since he was reported missing.

"But we know that he is alive," McTeague told Canada AM, explaining that, otherwise, Ottawa can confirm he's "in detention," but not by whom.

It's a very large country, McTeague said, "and those who may be responsible for the hostage-taking are not exactly going to identify themselves."

Describing the situation in Iraq as "chaotic" and "extremely tense," McTeague said efforts to communicate with whoever is holding Rifat are being made through unconventional channels.

"Sometimes you don't want a Canadian with a big red flag searching," he told Canada AM. "It may not get the response you want."

Rifat's twin brother, Ali, an Iraq-trained doctor living in Toronto, had been in constant e-mail contact before April 9. When he failed to hear word from his brother for four days, he filed a report with Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham.

Since then, he told Canada AM, he's been satisfied with Ottawa's effort on his behalf.

"They were very nice, they were very supportive," he said Wednesday. "They started to handle the case the way it's supposed to be."

McTeague said it's being handled as an extremely delicate situation.

"We're dealing with some individuals who are very serious and have every intention of keeping him for the time being."

There is hope, he added, that one of the "undisclosed channels" that seemed to have worked for another Canadian held hostage in Iraq, Fadi Fadel, should now come into play for Rifat.

"Speaking at liberty with our Muslim clerics here in Canada that they get the message back to that region of the country," he suggested.

Despite those efforts, Ali Rifat said he's extremely worried.

"It's a very, very hard moment, something unexpected," he said. "And I just hope to see him back home safe."

Ali said his 41-year-old brother was born in Iraq and emigrated to Canada 23 years ago, following the death of his father after he, too, was abducted. He had returned to Baghdad to work late last year.