No Word on Fate of Kidnapped Peace Activists as Deadline From Captors to Kill Them Passes

We turn to the situation of the kidnapped humanitarian aid workers in Iraq. More than two weeks ago, Tom Fox of Clearbrook Virginia, James Loney of Toronto, Harmeet Singh Sooden of Canada and Norman Kember of Britain were taken captive in Iraq by a group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade.

The kidnapped are members of the humanitarian group The Christian Peacemaker Teams, a non-missionary organization that has been documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees, working with the families of prisoners and promoting peace. They have been operating in Iraq since 2002, and have had a presence in Gaza and the West Bank for the past decade. It has previously operated in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia.

More than 35,000 people have signed an online petition urging their release and support from Muslim activists has been especially significant. Recently, the Association of Muslim Scholars, a group of influential Sunni scholars said that the captives should be granted their freedom.

Moazzam Begg, a British citizen, who was detained at Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba for nearly three years also called for their release.

* Moazzam Begg, former Guantanamo detainee.

The four hostages first appeared in a video broadcast by Al Jazeera. The station then aired another video in which the kidnappers threatened to kill the four unless all prisoners in US and Iraqi detention centers were released by December 8th. The deadline was extended by 48 hours. That deadline has now passed. There has been no word of their fate. Last Wednesday, a video was released of two of the captives, Tom Fox and Norman Kember, making this plea.

* Tom Fox and Norman Kember, video broadcast.

For more on the latest, we are joined by two guests.

* Ali Abunimah, founder of Electronic Intifada and Electronic Iraq.
* Ed Loney, brother of Jim Loney - one of the kidnapped men in Iraq who work for the Christian Peacemaker Teams - on the phone from Canada
* Catharine Fox, daughter of Tom Fox, - one of the kidnapped men in Iraq who work for the Christian Peacemaker Teams - video statement.

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