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Slain U.S. hostage was tortured, shot: police
Last Updated Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:18:11 EST
CBC News
American hostage Tom Fox, whose body was found in western Baghdad, was tortured and shot, Iraqi police said on Saturday.
Fox, 54, was one of four Christian peace activists kidnapped in Baghdad almost four months ago.
Iraqi police found the body near a railway line late Thursday afternoon. The U.S. State Department said on Friday it had notified Fox's family in Virginia to break the news of his death.
His hands and feet were bound and he had gunshot wounds to the head and chest, said police. There were also bruises on his head and cuts on his body, which was wrapped in a blanket.
There has been no news on the fate of fellow kidnapped activists Briton Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Sooden.
The previously unknown group, Swords of Righteousness Brigades, claimed responsibility for kidnapping the four peace workers in Baghdad on Nov. 26.
Fox, a Quaker and father of two, was notably absent from a video that aired earlier in the week showing three of the men.
The group sponsoring the activists, the Christian Peacemaker Teams, still has five people in Iraq. The group says it will continue its work despite the risks.
"We reject kidnapping and hostage-taking wholesale," CPT spokesperson Isabella Bates said on Saturday. "If any of us are taken hostage, absolutely no ransom will be paid."
Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a presence in Iraq since October 2002 and has been trying to focus attention on the issue of detainee abuses.
Bates, speaking to reporters in Maclean, Virginia, said while the actions of the kidnappers are wrong, CPT is against demonizing them. She said the group will work to "preserve what is human in all of us and so offer glimpses of hope in a dark time."
Last Updated Sat, 11 Mar 2006 12:18:11 EST
CBC News
American hostage Tom Fox, whose body was found in western Baghdad, was tortured and shot, Iraqi police said on Saturday.
Fox, 54, was one of four Christian peace activists kidnapped in Baghdad almost four months ago.
Iraqi police found the body near a railway line late Thursday afternoon. The U.S. State Department said on Friday it had notified Fox's family in Virginia to break the news of his death.
His hands and feet were bound and he had gunshot wounds to the head and chest, said police. There were also bruises on his head and cuts on his body, which was wrapped in a blanket.
There has been no news on the fate of fellow kidnapped activists Briton Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Sooden.
The previously unknown group, Swords of Righteousness Brigades, claimed responsibility for kidnapping the four peace workers in Baghdad on Nov. 26.
Fox, a Quaker and father of two, was notably absent from a video that aired earlier in the week showing three of the men.
The group sponsoring the activists, the Christian Peacemaker Teams, still has five people in Iraq. The group says it will continue its work despite the risks.
"We reject kidnapping and hostage-taking wholesale," CPT spokesperson Isabella Bates said on Saturday. "If any of us are taken hostage, absolutely no ransom will be paid."
Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a presence in Iraq since October 2002 and has been trying to focus attention on the issue of detainee abuses.
Bates, speaking to reporters in Maclean, Virginia, said while the actions of the kidnappers are wrong, CPT is against demonizing them. She said the group will work to "preserve what is human in all of us and so offer glimpses of hope in a dark time."
A member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams holds a sign for Tom Fox during a memorial in the West Bank town of Hebron on March 11. (AP photo)
I think that there should be some sort of educational video for terrorists. Kidnapping a Quaker who is part of a group called the "Christian Peacemaker Teams" might not be very productive...
That would probably be the normal reaction by a sane person, but this guy was after all a quaker.
Quakers
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