January 30, 2006
by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE – A videotape of four Christian activists held hostage in Iraq brought relief and hope to their colleagues in Baghdad and in Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) offices in Chicago and Toronto.

"We did see the four men alive, at least at the time of the video, which is encouraging," said Claire Evans, a spokesperson for CPT in Chicago. "We're continuing to hope for a safe release."

But there also was new worry: The broadcast included renewed threats to kill the four men unless U.S. and Iraqi authorities release prisoners from Iraqi jails.

The peacemakers were abducted in Baghdad on Nov. 26.

The video, broadcast Saturday on al-Jazeera, an Arabic-language television station, showed them standing against a white wall in a dark room. They appeared thin but healthy. They were speaking, but their voices weren't audible.

The abductees had not been heard from since the passing of a Dec. 10 execution deadline.

They are Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbook, VA; Norman Kember, 74, of London, England; and two Canadians æ James Loney, 41,of Toronto, and Harmeet Sooden, 32, of Montreal.

They were taken hostage by a previously unknown group that calls itself "The Swords of Righteousness Brigades."

"We are delighted to see them alive," Anita David, a CPT member in Baghad and a member of Lakeview Presbyterian Church in Chicago, told the Presbyterian News Service on Jan. 30. "I can't tell you the relief ... They're not wounded or bandaged. They're all present and accounted for."

In a statement issued on Jan. 28, the U.S. and Canadian offices of CPT blamed the U.S. and British governments for the kidnappings, citing the "illegal attack" on Iraq and the ongoing occupation. It said the four men have not collaborated with the occupation, and have worked for justice for Iraqis, particularly those who are jailed.

CPT held rallies in Washington, DC, and in Toronto over the weekend, urging the U.S. government to abandon its mission in Iraq.

CPT has had a team in Iraq since October 2002.

More than 250 foreigners have been kidnapped since the invasion, and about 40 have been killed.

Evans said the CPT obviously cannot persuade the U.S. and Iraqi governments to release prisoners, so it is doing what it can. "Our strategy is to make the work we've done in Iraq known," she said, referring to its efforts to call the U.S. government to account for its abuse of prisoners.

She said many Islamic clerics have sought the release of the hostages, as have Arab political leaders including those representing the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League.

"We did pray a prayer of thanks that they're alive," David said. "They look tired ... but they're alive. And we just want them back. We want them in the living room. We want them sitting here drinking tea."

Presbyterian News Service