Hostage video shows aid workers in Iraq: report
CTV.ca News Staff
An Arab television station has aired what could be insurgent video of four peace activists -- two of them Canadians -- who were taken hostage in Iraq over the weekend.
A previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade claimed the four members of a Christian peaceworkers' organization are spies working undercover, reported al-Jazeera television on Tuesday.
The station said it could not verify any of the information on the tape, which shows four men sitting on the ground in front of a white wall, and a British passport belonging to Norman Kember.
The British government and an organization called the Christian Peacemaker Teams have both reported that Kember, 74, was among four activists taken hostage Saturday. The two other members are Americans.
A graphic of two crossed, black swords and the name of the group written in red Arabic script appear in the corner of the video.
The video was released on the same day that Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada came forward to reveal that the two Canadians were among its four members kidnapped in Iraq.
The organization said in its first public statement since the kidnapping that it decided to come forward after several media groups reported it was the group involved.
A difficult decision
"In our ongoing consultations with our team in Iraq, it was felt that the time had come to confirm that we are indeed the organization," said spokesperson Robin Buyers on Tuesday.
"It's been a very difficult decision."
The group was expected to provide a media briefing on the hostage-taking at a news conference Tuesday morning, but cancelled the event without explanation.
The human rights workers were reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint in a violent area of western Baghdad on Saturday.
It's not known if they were kidnapped by petty thieves or militant insurgents. To protect their safety, Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs has not released the Canadians' names nor the organization they work for.
"We felt that we should take that advice and not go public," said Buyers. "But since we were outed, as it were ... we felt that we should confirm that indeed we are the organization and these are our people."
Buyers said she did not know the conditions of the hostages and did not say whether other group members in Iraq have been in contact with the hostage-takers.
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad confirmed Monday that an American was missing but refused to provide a name.
Canada currently does not have an embassy in Iraq. But Dan McTeague, parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad, said consular officials in Amman, Jordan were working to free the two Canadians.
Christian missionaries 'targets'
Defence Minister Bill Graham said Ottawa is doing what it can to help free the hostages.
But terrorism expert Eric Margolis said the fate of the Canadians unfortunately largely rests in the hands of their captors.
"To my knowledge, hostages that have been released have either been done because of a tip-off, or U.S. forces have just stumbled across them. There's not much the Canadian government can do."
He continued: "If it's a criminal gang, it's better, because these criminal abductors will eventually contact the authorities, whoever they may be ... and then ask for money. So there's some chance of getting them out."
Christian Peacemakers Team has been in Iraq since October, 2002, before the invasion by the U.S.-led coalition. The organization does not advocate the use of force to save its members' lives, should they be kidnapped or taken hostage.
Despite their charitable intentions, Margolis said these Christian missionaries are particular targets because, "in the Muslim world, they are generally regarded as agents of Western imperialism or spies ... and at best as dangerous troublemakers who are trying to upset the social balance and the customs of the country."
A "Statement of Conviction" released by the Peacemakers branch in Iraq says that team members "are aware of the many risks both Iraqis and internationals currently face," and affirmed that the risks did not outweigh their purpose in remaining.
In the statement, the group expresses the hope that "in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening non-violently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation."
German woman missing in Iraq
Photos also surfaced on Tuesday of another westerner kidnapped in Iraq.
Germany's ARD television reported that pictures of German national Susanne Osthoff were taken from a video in which her captors demanded that Germany stop any dealings with Iraq's government.
The photos show the blindfolded Osthoff being led away by armed captors. Osthoff, who her mother revealed is an archeologist working for a German aid organization, has been missing along with her driver since Friday. "According to current information, we have to assume it is a kidnapping,'' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin.
Six Iranian pilgrims, meanwhile, were abducted by gunmen north of Baghdad on Tuesday morning. The pilgrims were grabbed near Balad, 80 km north of Baghdad, but it wasn't clear if the six were going to or coming from Samarra -- the central city that houses a shrine to two Shiite saints.
