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US hostage Tom Fox killed in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-11 10:02
An American who was among four Christian activists kidnapped last year in
Iraq has been killed, a State Department spokesman said Friday.
In this undated
photo provided by Christian Peacemaker Teams, Tom Fox, seated right, 54,
of Clear Brook, Va., is shown. Fox was grabbed at gunpoint in Nov. 2005
with three others off a Baghdad street by the previously unknown Swords of
Righteousness Brigades. The FBI verified that a body found in Iraq Friday
morning, March 10, 2006 was that of Fox, spokesman Noel Clay said.
[AP] |
The FBI verified that a body found in Iraq Friday morning was that of Tom
Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., spokesman Noel Clay said. He said he had no
information on the other three hostages.
Clay said additional forensics will be done in the United States. The U.S.
Embassy in Baghdad is investigating, he said.
Fox's family has been notified, Clay said, and "our heartfelt condolences go
out to them."
"The State Department continues to call for the unconditional release of all
other hostages" in Iraq, the spokesman said.
Fox was the one American among four Christian Peacemaker activists kidnapped
last year in Iraq.
On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera television aired footage of the three other activists
purportedly appealing to their governments to secure their release.
The hostages seen in the brief video dated Feb. 28 were Canadians James
Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; and Briton Norman Kember, 74.
Allan Slater, a Canadian member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, said at the
time that he was disturbed not to see Fox.
"We certainly are hopeful when we see three of our friends alive, but also
it's very distressing that we didn't see Tom Fox, and I wouldn't want to hide
that because I'm sure it's very distressful for Tom's family and friends as
well," Slater told The Canadian Press from Baghdad.
The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed
responsibility for kidnapping the four workers, who disappeared Nov. 26.
The four had not been heard from since a videotape aired by Al-Jazeera on
Jan. 28, dated from a week before. A statement reportedly accompanying that tape
said the hostages would be killed unless all Iraqi prisoners were released from
U.S. and Iraqi prisons. No deadline was set.
Iraqi and Western security officials repeatedly warned the activists before
their abduction that they were taking a grave risk by moving around Baghdad
without bodyguards.
Christian Peacemaker Teams had been working in Iraq since October 2002,
investigating allegations that U.S. and Iraqi forces abused Iraqi detainees. Its
teams host human rights conferences in conflict zones, promoting peaceful
solutions.
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