Clever of the "Sword of Righteousness Brigade" to pick on non-fundamentalist, non-evangelical, Christian peace activists who will only get angry with Bush and Blair about their plight and not at those they view as fellow victims of Bush and Blair.
But not so clever of those who kidnapped a German woman on the week that Germany installed her first woman head-of-government.
From a Yahoo! AP article, Virginia Man Among Four Kidnapped in Iraq :
Virginia Man Among Four Kidnapped in Iraq By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press WriterAl-Jazeera broadcast video Tuesday of four Western peace activists held hostage by a previously unknown group, part of a new wave of kidnappings police fear is aimed at disrupting next month's elections.
The news station said the four were seized by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, which claimed they were spies working under the cover of Christian peace activists. The captives_ an American, a Briton and two Canadians — were members of the Chicago-based aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The footage showed Norman Kember, a retired British professor with a shock of white hair, sitting on the floor with three other men. The camera revealed the 74-year-old Kember's passport, but the other hostages were not identified.
But Christian Peacemaker Teams confirmed the others were Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook, Va.; James Loney, 41, of Toronto; and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, a Canadian electrical engineer. They had been missing since Saturday.
The brief, blurry tape was shown the same day German TV displayed a photo of a blindfolded German archaeologist being led away by armed captors in Iraq. The kidnappers threatened to kill Susanne Osthoff and her Iraqi driver unless Germany halts all contacts with the Iraqi government.
[…] In a statement, Christian Peacemaker Teams said it strongly opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and blamed the kidnapping on coalition forces.
"We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people," the group said.
Christian Peacemaker Teams does not consider itself a fundamentalist organization, a spokeswoman said. [/] "We are very strict about this: We do not do any evangelism, we are not missionaries," Jessica Phillips told The Associated Press in Chicago. "Our interest is to bring an end to the violence and destruction of civilian life in Iraq." [/] The group's first activists went to Iraq in 2002, six months before the U.S.-led invasion, Phillips said, adding that a main mission since the invasion has been documenting alleged human rights abuses by U.S. forces.
Loney, a community worker, was leading the Christian group's delegation in Iraq. [/] Fox, the captive from Virginia, has two children, plays the bass clarinet and the recorder and worked as a professional grocer and at a Quaker youth camp, according to the statement. [/] Sooden was studying for a masters degree in English literature at Auckland University in New Zealand to prepare for a teaching career. [/] Kember is a longtime peace activist who once fretted publicly that he was taking the easy way out by protesting in safety at home while British soldiers risked their lives in Iraq. He and his wife of 45 years have two daughters and a grandson, the group said.
The German woman and her Iraqi driver were kidnapped Friday, the German government announced. ARD public television said it obtained a video in which the kidnappers made their threats. The station posted a photo on its Web site showing what appears to be Osthoff and her driver blindfolded on the floor, with three masked militants standing by, one with a rocket-propelled grenade.
[…] Osthoff's mother told Germany's N24 news station that her daughter was an archaeologist who was working for a German aid organization distributing medicine and medical supplies since before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
[…] Iraq was swept by a wave of kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in 2004 and early 2005, but such attacks have dropped off in recent months as many Western groups have left and security precautions for those who remain have tightened. Insurgents, including al-Qaida in Iraq, have seized more than 225 people, killing at least 38 — including three Americans.
[…] Associated Press reporters David Rising in Berlin, Michael Tarm in Chicago and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
On the Net: Christian Peacemaker Teams [My ellipses and emphasis]
