Iraqi Group Releases New Video Of Harmeet Sooden

Scoop Link: Iraqi Group Releases New Video Of Harmeet And Peacemaker Team

Aljazeera reports that kidnappers holding four Western peace activists hostage in Iraq, including Harmeet Sooden, have said they are giving US-led forces one final chance to free Iraqi prisoners or they would kill their hostages. In a new video shown by Aljazeera on Saturday and dated 21 January, the four hostages were shown standing against a wall in an unknown location.

The hostages are: Canadian citizen, New Zealand resident and Auckland University student, Harmeet Sooden (32) and fellow Canadian citizen James Loney (41), Tom Fox (54) of Clear Brook, Virginia USA, and Norman Kember (74) of England.

The tape dated January 21 and broadcast on Al-Jazeera on January 28 showed the four men standing near a wall, before cutting away to another shot in which they were seated and talking, but their voices were not heard. The previously unknown The Swords of The Righteousness Brigades has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has called for the captors to release Harmeet and his friends: "The New Zealand Government continues to urge the captors of Harmeet and his friends to release them. All four were on a peaceful mission to Iraq, and were motivated purely by a desire to help the Iraqi people," Helen Clark said.

See… Aljazeera: 'Last chance' for Iraq hostages.

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