Ardern’s anger over naming

The Government and the Red Cross have strikingly different accounts on the decision to name New Zealand Isis hostage Louisa Akavi.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern repeatedly told media yesterday at her post-Cabinet press conference that the Government’s view remained that the 51⁄2-year secret of Akavi’s capture remain hidden from the public to protect her life.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) went public with Akavi’s name yesterday morning, breaking years of silence on the case of the O¯ taki nurse held captive.

Ardern said her Government’s position remained that this was not the right decision; this had been communicated to the ICRC. ‘‘It absolutely remains the Government’s view that it would be preferable if this case was not in the public domain. For that reason, I will not be commenting further,’’ she said.

The Government has been operating under the advice that any publicity might increase the risk of Akavi being executed, like many of her fellow hostages. That advice remained in place yesterday, especially after the Christchurch terror attacks, which sparked a chilling warning from Isis about retaliation.

The ICRC went public in an appeal for information to help find Akavi, who has an extraordinary record of service, returning to the frontline of conflict and war zones – despite being caught up in violent situations, including a hospital massacre that slaughtered her colleagues.

It is believed Akavi was still being held by Isis as the end neared in the village of Baghuz, where a small band of the most fanatical Isis militants made their final stand.

Stuff has confirmed that the New Zealand Government believed it had a positive identification of Akavi being alive as recently as December or January, as the remnants of Isis were holed up in a small town on the Euphrates.

Red Cross ‘surprised’

ICRC operations head Dominik Stillhart said he was under the impression the decision to name Akavi had been made in ‘‘full alignment’’ with the New Zealand Government, and expressed surprise at Ardern’s comments.

‘‘After 51⁄2 years, we would not have made that decision without the support of the New Zealand Government.’’

He said it was a ‘‘big step’’ and there had been discussions with the Government over the past 51⁄2 weeks.

The decision was made after a believed sighting of Akavi working in a clinic near Baghuz near the end of last year.

‘‘With the loss of territory of the Islamic State, we hoped Louisa would turn up. We went to great efforts in the northeast of Syria to locate her but, as of now, we couldn’t find her.’’

Akavi was captured in 2013 in northwest Syria, possibly by the al-Nusra front, a terror group at times allied or in conflict with Isis. She ended up in Isis hands and was held alongside a group of other Western prisoners, including American James Foley, whose brutal beheading shocked the world.

Several of these hostages were released – reportedly after their countries paid a ransom.

New Zealand and the ICRC have a firm policy against paying ransoms. Isis had asked the ICRC for a ‘‘fluctuating’’ price for Akavi, Stillhart said, from under €1 million (NZ$1.7m) to as high as €20m (NZ$33m).

Long-held secret

For nearly six years, Akavi has been one of the country’s most closely guarded secrets.

The O¯ taki woman, who has had an extraordinary career as a nurse on the frontline, had ended up in the hands of the Islamic State, one of a group of Western hostages held in an old oil refinery in northern Syria, under the eye of a brutal executioner known as Jihadi John.

Her captivity was kept secret by government ministers, key officials as well as media here and overseas.

Ardern thanked local media for keeping her name out of the headlines for so long. Only a select group of people was aware at the time that Isis had a Kiwi hostage in its midst and there were heightened fears for Akavi’s life.

The Government and ICRC have worked closely on the ground in the Middle East in the hunt to bring Akavi home over those six years. But they appear to have had a parting of the ways over her naming.

The last known sighting of Akavi was about December 2018 or January 2019, when positive identification was made by people who had fled the fighting in Baghuz and neighbouring areas. But there has been no word since.

The ICRC is understood to have informed the Government about two weeks ago, after Baghuz fell and the last remaining strongholds had been cleared, that it intended proactively releasing Akavi’s name. Its view was the defeat of Isis in Syria was a significant development that materially changed the call on naming her.

The release took the form of a story in The New York Times, although embargoed press releases were also given to New Zealand outlets on the proviso they did not publish ahead of the Times.

It’s understood that Ardern is not keen to comment at length on the case for fear Isis will use the footage in propaganda videos.