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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, Jill Pritchard-Scott, Father Bob Holmes, Arunthathy Ratnasingham and Lyn Adamson hold candles during a vigil in Toronto, Canada Saturday Dec. 10, 2005.
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 �� two Canadians, an American and a Briton �� 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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