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Suicide bombing on bus in Iraq kills 30
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-08 19:10
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Thursday appealed again
for communication from a previously unknown group holding four peace activists.
"If the kidnappers want to get in touch with us, we want to hear what they
have to say," Straw said in a brief statement outside the prime minister's
office. "We have people in Iraq itself and in the region, and they are ready to
hear from the kidnappers."
Norman Kember, 74, of London, Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., and Canadians
James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, were taken hostage in Baghdad two
weeks ago. The four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams were seized by the
previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigade.
Their kidnappers on Wednesday extended a deadline until Saturday in their
threat to kill the four. The captors also posted a video of two of the hostages
wearing orange jumpsuits and shackled with chains.
The original deadline set by the group was Thursday. The extension was
announced in a statement that accompanied Wednesday's video, according to
Al-Jazeera and IntelCenter, a government contractor that does support work for
the U.S. intelligence community.
They four are among seven Westerners who have been abducted in Iraq since
Nov. 25. The other hostages are an American, a German and a Frenchman.
Videotape of the Christian peace activists provided by IntelCenter to AP
Television News showed two men, who were blindfolded and shackled. The men were
not identified, but still photos from IntelCenter showed they were Fox and
Kember. The two other hostages were not shown.
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