Captors in Iraq Renew Threat to Kill 4 From Peace Group (CPT)

[Sapphire Blue]

Captors in Iraq Renew Threat to Kill 4 From Peace Group
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
Published: January 29, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 28 —Four Western peace advocates abducted in November were shown in a videotape broadcast Saturday, and their captors renewed their threat to kill the hostages if all Iraqi prisoners were not set free.

The video, played on the Arabic-language television station Al Jazeera, showed the four men — a Briton, an American and two Canadians — looking gaunt and standing against a white wall. They were shown speaking, but their voices could not be heard, an increasingly common feature of such videos here.

The tape, bearing the date Jan. 21, was broadcast on a day when at least 13 Iraqis were killed in attacks in Baghdad and south of the capital.

Al Jazeera said the video came with a statement from the kidnappers, the Swords of Truth, saying the men would be killed if the authorities did not release all Iraqi prisoners. The aid group, Christian Peacemaker Teams, has identified the four men as Norman Kember, 74, of London; Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook, Va.; James Loney, 41, of Toronto; and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, also a Canadian. They were kidnapped on Nov. 26.

Continued @ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/international/middleeast/29iraq.html

Petition: http://www.freethecpt.org/

Christian Peacemaker Teams: http://www.cpt.org/