They were kidnapped in Iraq November 26th. Two deadlines passed and no one knew their fate. An Iraqi negotiator was kidnapped when he went to the country to try to secure their release.
Canadians Harmeet Sooden, 32, James Loney, 41, Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54, of the Iraq Christian Peacemakers Team were seen on tape released to Al Jazeera today.
The kidnappers call themselves The Sword of Righteousness Brigade and said this is the men’s last chance. However, another deadline was not set. The tape has not been independently verified, it was dated January 21st.
The Loney family said they were relieved to see James alive.
“It’s a good and bad scenario, we know that he’s alive and the others are alive as well, and we take great solace in that fact,” Matt Loney told The Canadian Press.
“But the fact remains that this is still a delicate situation.”
David Pankratz who worked in Iraq for six months delivering food, medicine and water, believes the video is not a last chance threat but an attempt by the kidnappers to save face.
“They’re trying to find a way to do something that will allow them to release the hostages without everyone in Iraq saying ‘those idiots they lost’,” Pankratz said.
Christian Peacemaker Teams released a statement in English and Arabic today regarding the tape.Â
The fate of 28 year old US journalist Jill Carroll and two German engineers are not known.
