Jan. 16, 2006 issue
Silence seen as encouraging despite long wait for news of hostages
By Robert Rhodes Mennonite Weekly ReviewPage:
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Despite weeks of silence over the fate of four kidnapped peace activists in Iraq, Christian Peacemaker Teams leaders are cautiously optimistic that their missing colleagues are safe.
“We’re operating on the assumption that no news is good news,” CPT spokeswoman Kathleen Kern said Jan. 10.
Missing since Nov. 26 are Briton Norman Kember, 74, American Tom Fox, 54, and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32. The four were seized at gunpoint in Baghdad by a group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade.
In videos broadcast in November and December on the Aljazeera network, the group threatened to kill the four if U.S. and Iraqi authorities did not free all detainees in their prisons by Dec. 10.
Though Muslim groups from across the Middle East have called for the immediate release of the four because of CPT’s advocacy work in Iraq and the West Bank, there has been no word on the hostages since the deadline passed.
Kern said CPT is not offering any speculation on the fate of their colleagues, or on the identity of their kidnappers, for fear of endangering them further.
“Our people in Iraq have said that is definitely potentially dangerous,” Kern said.
CPT’s three-member Iraq contingent has released several messages directed to the missing activists, including one on Jan. 3 that expressed concern about Kember’s health.
“Norman’s wife is concerned about him not having access to his high-blood-pressure medication,” Kern said.
Meanwhile, the families of the four hostages continue to wait in suspense for any word on their fate.
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