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Iraq hostages' Kin wait as deadline passes
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-11 16:47
TORONTO - Family and friends of Christian peace activists held hostage in
Iraq waited with mounting concern Saturday as a deadline to kill them passed
without word from the kidnappers.
Members of
Christian Peacemaker Teams, from left, Father Bob Holmes, Arunthathy
Ratnasingham and Lyn Adamson hold candles during a vigil in Toronto,
Canada Saturday Dec. 10, 2005.
[Reuters] | The previously unknown Swords of
Righteousness Brigade seized the activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams ¡ª two
Canadians, an American and a Briton ¡ª two weeks ago, threatening to kill them
unless U.S. and Iraqi authorities released all prisoners. The group had set
Thursday as a deadline but extended until Saturday.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had no information about the hostages, and
there was no sign that emissaries sent from Canada and Britain had managed to
establish contact with the kidnappers.
"We thought we'd hear something in the early hours of the morning today or at
least by now," said Ed Loney, younger brother of Canadian hostage James Loney,
41. "We're definitely hungry to hear something, anything at this point."
The other three are Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; Norman Kember, 74, of
London and Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va.
Katherine Fox, daughter of Tom Fox, pleaded for her father's release.
"Both my father and I believe that the Iraqi people have legitimate concerns
regarding the U.S. occupancy and presence in Iraq," she said in a video
broadcast Saturday on CNN. "We believe that these grievances, however, will not
be resolved by taking my father's life."
Christian Peacemaker Teams has been working in Iraq since October 2002,
investigating allegations of abuse against Iraqi detainees and promoting peace.
Katherine Fox said the extension of the deadline "verifies my father's belief
that the Iraqi people are honorable and just" and "indicates a willingness to
discuss the safe release of my father."
Iraqi officials say a revival of kidnappings of Westerners may be an attempt
to undermine Thursday's elections to choose a parliament for the next four
years.
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