governments and countries in the Gulf to work for their release, the network said.
The tape showed three men sitting in chairs. One of those on the tape had white hair and a slight beard, the two others had dark hair and full beards, Aljazeera added in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife.
It came after prayer vigils were held around the world to mark 100 days since Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, American Tom Fox, 54, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, disappeared on November 26. The four believers work for the US and Canada based international conflict resolution organization Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), which documented suffering of Iraqis during the recent war.
Fox was the only one not shown in the latest video, CPT told BosNewsLife. "In the latest video we were so glad to see Jim Loney alive. We were so glad to see Harmeet Sooden alive. We were so glad to see Norman Kember alive. We do not know what to make of Tom Fox’s absence from this video," the group said.
AMERICAN "LOVES GOD"
"However we do know what motivated Tom and his colleagues to go to Iraq. Tom wrote on the day before he was taken: ‘We are here to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. …How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength, and to love our neighbours and enemies as we love God and ourselves,’" CPT explained.
The previously unknown group Swords of Righteousness Brigades had said it was responsible for kidnapping the four men, who worked for CPT in Iraq. The group initially threatened to kill the hostages if its demand, the release of all Iraqi prisoners, was not met by December 10, but later postponed that deadline.
Tuesday’s video was the first time anything was heard from the hostages since their last appearance on Aljazeera on January 28 in a videotape dated January 21.
CALLING FOR PRAYERS
CPT, which has been calling for an end to the presence of US and British troops in Iraq, said it would continue "to pray for their safe and speedy release" of its four members.
Kember’s friend, Chris Cole, told British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that his was relieved to see seeing the latest video but stressed he remained "very worried".
"I think he looks in reasonable health in the circumstances," Cole said. "We would very much like to have them here to continue their work for peace and justice in the Middle East."
MUSLIMS DEMAND RELEASE
Meanwhile, Anas al-Tikriti from the Muslim Association of Britain, who went to Baghdad to try to secure Kember’s release in December reportedly said that it might be possible to open negotiations with the abductors.
"It shows that, you know, rather than basically just ignore the entire world and carry out their threat regardless, the abductors are showing some sort of sense that they do want to communicate, they do want to negotiate," he was quoted as saying.
The Western Christians are not the only believers that have been kidnapped. Barnabas Fund and other Christian rights groups have reported that Iraqi Christians have been kidnapped in several areas since the US-led coalition entered Iraq. They say Christians are often seen by Islamic militants as supporting the Western allies, while money is among another motive for the kidnappings.
MORE VIOLENCE REPORTED
News of the kidnappings came as violence in Iraq continued Tuesday, March 7. Five civilians were wounded when a car bomb exploded in southern Baghdad, while in western Baghdad, a civilian was killed and his wife was wounded when a another car bomb struck a US patrol, police said in published remarks.
In Baquba, a car bomb reportedly killed one civilian and wounded three police officers, while in central Hilla, 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) south of Baghdad, three traffic policemen and four civilians were wounded when a car bomb went off there.
A policeman was wounded when four mortar rounds landed in and around Balad police office in Balad, 90 kilometers (about 56 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Elsewhere, three policemen were killed and four were wounded when armed men attacked their patrol in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 kilometers (112 miles) north of Baghdad.
In Tikrit, 175 kilometers north of Baghdad (about 110 miles) a Sunni shrine was destroyed on Monday, March 6, when armed men planted bombs inside it, Aljazeera quoted police as saying. Despite the violence, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense reportedly described as "one possible scenario" that most of Britain’s 8000 troops in Iraq could be withdrawn by the middle of 2008. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Iraq).
