Douglas Wood (30 June 1941 – 31 December 2019), was an Australian construction engineer who had worked with the American military, and was held hostage in Iraq for six weeks between May and June 2005, before being rescued. Early life Wood was born in Whyalla, South Australia in 1941. He moved to Geelong where he attended the Geelong College and the Gordon Institute of TAFE, graduating as a mechanical engineer. In 1973 he left Australia to work in the United States, moving to Alamo, California, where he lived with his American wife and daughter, and employed by construction company Bechtel Corporation for 25 years. He later formed his own company and moved from his Californian home to Iraq. His work involved project management, and building nuclear plants; including the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating station in Arizona. Kidnapping In 2005, Wood was kidnapped along with two Iraqi business associates and forced into a cell, while at a home in Baghdad, Iraq where he was organising a business deal. On 2 May 2005, Arabic television network al-Jazeera broadcast footage of Wood being held by armed captors, identified as the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of Iraq. Wood is shown pleading for his life, and urges Australia and the United States to withdraw their troops from the country. On 4 May 2005, Al-Jazeera broadcast an appeal by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Wood's brothers for the insurgents to free Wood. By 7 May 2005, new footage emerged showing Wood, having sustained injuries, with machine guns held to his head. In the video, he read aloud an order to withdraw troops from Iraq within 72 hours. In response, Imam Sheik Alhilali flew to Iraq on 9 May 2005 to attempt to assist with Wood's release. It is during this time that Alhilali claims to have seen Wood, confirming that he was still alive. In response to suggestions that the Australian government or Wood's family might make payments to the kidnappers, Prime Minister John Howard stated that Australia will neither pull troops out, nor pay any ransom that might be demanded. Downer added that any concession to demands could encourage further kidnappings. Wood's family conducted a public relations campaign in both Australia and Iraq, to convince Mr Wood's captors that he was a family man who sympathises with their cause. On 10 May 2005, the deadline given by the kidnappers expired at 5pm Australian time,