WASHINGTON (ABP) — A new video of Christian peace activists taken hostage in Iraq last year is renewing hope among their colleagues and loved ones. But it also is raising questions about the fate of the sole American abducted, who was not shown in the video.
The Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera aired a new tape March 7 showing three members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams who have been held hostage for months. The tape was reportedly made Feb. 28.
It shows hostages Norman Kember, 74, who is a British Baptist; and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32. They were abducted Nov. 26 in Baghdad while on their way to meet with a Muslim group.
The tape did not show American Tom Fox, 54, who was taken hostage along with the others while working to oppose the American occupation of Iraq. Members of the pacifist ministry have also protested American military treatment of Iraqi prisoners. They pointedly refuse to travel with bodyguards, unlike the vast majority of Westerners in the war-torn country.
A similar videotape aired Jan. 28 showed all the hostages, including Fox. At the time, their captors repeated their threat that all four would be executed unless all Iraqi prisoners are released.
Al-Jazeera did not air the audio of the new tape, but the captives appear to be speaking, reportedly asking their respective governments and Persian Gulf nations to work toward their release.
An Islamic group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness, previously unknown in Iraq, has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
A statement, released early on March 7 by Christian Peacemaker Teams, noted that the previous weekend had marked 100 days since the four had been taken hostage. CPT supporters held vigils around the world, the statement said, to mark the occasion.
“We also hold in our hearts the families of 14,600 Iraqis currently detained illegally by the multi-national forces in Iraq, who likewise await the release of their loved ones,” the statement said. “These detainees are being held without formal charges, without access to their families and legal advisors, and without recourse to a fair and open judicial process.”
But the statement also expressed dismay at Fox's absence from the 25-second tape.
“We do not know what to make of Tom Fox's absence from this video,” it said. “However we do know what motivated Tom and his colleagues to go to Iraq. Tom wrote on the day before he was taken, 'We are here to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. … How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind, and our strength, and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves.'”
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