Topic: An Urgent Appeal: Please Release Our Friends in Iraq

[bigbenjamin]

These good folks (two Canucks amongst them)  have only a couple of days to live, unless their captors change their minds. Here is the petition asking for their release, visit  http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freethecpt  to sign:


An Urgent Appeal: Please Release Our Friends in Iraq

[EvilTwin]

I signed it BB. Pray for the good people who are being held against their will. The Islamic extremists have shown time and time again that they have no respect for any faith other than their own. Terrorizing innocent people is wrong in any language.

[BC Babe]

Signed! Man, those poor guys...hope that this helps, even just a little. 

[bigbenjamin]

I signed it BB. Pray for the good people who are being held against their will. The Islamic extremists have shown time and time again that they have no respect for any faith other than their own. Terrorizing innocent people is wrong in any language.

Thanks ET & BC babe, so far we have 23245 Total signatures

 Petition: An Urgent Appeal: Please Release Our Friends in Iraq
Target: The People Holding the Four C.P.T. Workers
Category: Civil & Human Rights

You could save lives with a click on this :  http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freethecpt  cheers!

[Canuckguy]

Signed!

The odds of them being released are slim but Im hoping for them

[Bailey]

Agree with what CG said, but here's hoping, singned.

[knocknock]

signed

[bigbenjamin]

Thanks CG, Bail & KK, you done good - i just wonder if everyone else is sleepin  through this . . four innocent people are gonna be killed tomorrow unless their captors change their minds. Every little bit helps, won't you click and sign?

 http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freethecpt    cheers

[shake]

Yeah I signed it yesterday.

[Ole Dirty]

I signed the petition anyway, I know I am gonna come off as Mr. Negativity here. But I honestly think that a petition is really not gonna make a difference to terrorist. I wish them the best of luck, and hope those fucking morons realize who they have captured....and let them go safe and sound.

[StoneChimes]

done. better than nothing i guess.

[bigbenjamin]

Some good news!

    
Deadline extended, fears continue for safety of hostages
Last Updated Wed, 07 Dec 2005 20:05:42 EST
CBC News

Kidnappers holding four members of a Christian aid group in Iraq, including two Canadians, have extended their deadline. The militants now say Britain and the United States have until Saturday to meet their demands or the four will die.

The extension of the deadline means more time to negotiate a peaceful resolution, but it also means increased pressure, anxiety and heightened emotions for the families of the hostages.

James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Sooden, 32, were kidnapped at gunpoint on Nov. 26 in Baghdad, along with Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54.

Loney is from Toronto and Sooden has lived in Montreal.

A group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigades has demanded the United States and Britain free all Iraqi prisoners by Saturday. The kidnappers say the men are spies, which is denied by their organization.

The hostages are members of a Christian aid group called Christian Peacemaker Teams, which sends teams to troubled areas. According to its web site its actions in Iraq are aimed at "focusing attention on the issue of detainee abuses and basic legal and human rights ..."

Prime Minister Paul Martin says he is concerned about the fate of the Canadians. "I've been on phone every day and we're doing everything we possibly can. But it's a matter of such delicacy I can't really comment," he said.

In a statement released late Wednesday evening Martin went further. "I want to reassure the public that the government of Canada remains absolutely committed to securing the safe release of the hostages. Every resource of the government is committed towards achieving that outcome.

"Canada remains willing to listen to and speak with persons who may have information that will assist in the safe release of the hostages," said the statement.

hopeful cheers

[StoneChimes]

Australian hostage Douglas Wood was rescued after a tip off. He was virually surrendered by the insurgents after a long political and religeous campaign to have him released. The more this stretches out, the better it will be in some ways - Wood was an engineering contractor fulfilling US contracts with Australian and US citizenship papers. From what I've read about the hostages currently being held, they seem much less likely candidates to be put to death than Wood. I even saw Douglas in the bar at an Australian Football League game this year because we follow the same team. There are so many variables involved but there's plenty of hope. And I hope the Canadian Islamic community is getting involved in communicating their sadness too, because that seems to have some weight. Probably not a great deal, but again - better than nothing.

[tan]

signed here......and yes its better than doing anything at all...even if it turns for the worse at least we get to show support

[bigbenjamin]

The world holds its breath
A painful wait through the time zones as the clock ticks down
for 4 captives, including Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden
Dec. 10, 2005.


The last morning before his son's day of reckoning began for Patrick Loney with Mass at 7:55 a.m., as it has every day for the past 20 years. Yesterday, he bowed his head at Precious Blood Cathedral in Sault Ste. Marie and prayed the next day wouldn't be the last for his first-born boy, James Loney.

At Toronto's Queen's Park, too, there were prayers. Two prominent Sikh and Muslim journalists added their voices to the chorus urging the hostages' release.

"We implore you to let our countrymen free. They came to Iraq as friends of the Iraqi people and they deserve the traditional Muslim hospitality that has been a hallmark of Arab and Iraqi culture and custom for centuries," said Tarek Fatah, host of The Muslim Chronicle on CTS. "In their hearts, Harmeet and Jim had the good of Iraq and the Iraqi people. They and their American and British colleagues came to serve you ... and so should be set free."

Joginder Singh Grewal, editor of the Panj Pani Weekly, stressed that "holding them captive will not serve the Iraqi people's dream of a peaceful and sovereign Iraq."

Meanwhile, at the Loney home in the Sault, it was unlikely anybody got any sleep at all.

"Absolutely this has brought us together as a family. It has done what no other crisis could do," said Matt Loney. "You're really forced to live in the moment and to be honest with each other and just be there for each other.

"You see the emotional gamut that everyone is running, the roller coaster that everybody is on ... For that I think, in a weird way, I'm almost grateful to James for that," he said, tears welling in his eyes.

"Family members have all flown in from parts unknown just to be here ... it has really helped how we live in the present with each other, having to rely on each other. This is by far, in a weird sense, the greatest gift that James has given us ..." Their vigil was a vigil for the entire town. And the final mood was optimistic. "I feel it in my bones that they're going to be released," said Monsignor Burns. "What a nice Christmas present that would be."

hopeful cheers

[elle*]

there hasn't been any word back on that yet eh?  i really hope they are released...that is really sad.  its terrible. 

[Bailey]

Yeah, life is to cherished, anyone who believes that killing a person or people is the answer, need to seriously look at their own lives, and take a good look at how their life impacts others thru their choices.

We're not Ozzie, or Canucks or Muslims, we're all human, living on a rock, on a one way trip through the ether, a million different colours of the light fantastic...

EDIT, i really hope this turns out well for all concerned.

[Bailey]

Australian hostage Douglas Wood was rescued after a tip off. He was virually surrendered by the insurgents after a long political and religeous campaign to have him released. The more this stretches out, the better it will be in some ways - Wood was an engineering contractor fulfilling US contracts with Australian and US citizenship papers. From what I've read about the hostages currently being held, they seem much less likely candidates to be put to death than Wood. I even saw Douglas in the bar at an Australian Football League game this year because we follow the same team. There are so many variables involved but there's plenty of hope. And I hope the Canadian Islamic community is getting involved in communicating their sadness too, because that seems to have some weight. Probably not a great deal, but again - better than nothing.

Only just saw this post, sorry Stone Chimes, great post mate, watched avidly the day he recounted his story, when he had the sack over his head about to be executed in the basement, and then he heard the sounds of gunfire and his heart stopped waiting for the impact, but it was his captors being shot by the US army, i don't think i'll ever forget that, truly a positive story to come out of this shit so far... Not the killing ofcourse, but the rescue.

[monkeon]

Signed BB sorry I picked it up late hope the guys get back safe and well 

[bigbenjamin]

This update was published 4 hours ago:


"There has been no word on four Christian activists kidnapped by the previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The group had threatened to kill the four unless all prisoners were released.

The four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams are Norman Kember, 74, of London; Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va.; and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32. Christian Peacemaker Teams has been working in Iraq since 2002, investigating allegations of abuse against Iraqi detainees and promoting peace.

Iraq was swept by a wave of kidnappings and beheadings of foreigners in 2004 and early 2005, but abductions decreased 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 240 foreigners and killed at least 39."


I think the kidnappers have realized that they fucked up when they snatched these CPT folks, who hate the war and occupation of Iraq as much as they do. I'm bettin they will be released very soon - only 39 actually killed out of 240, not bad odds.

hopeful cheers

[Maddoggystyle]

We love our country, we love our freedom but most of all we love our people!


Please stay safe and let your spiritual belief give you freedom.

[Mr 420]

War sucks and ill have no part of it. All the money in the world couldnt get me to go anywhere off North American soil. Hell i wont even leave Canada.

Lets hope no one gets killed being a peace keeper.

Did i say i dont support that war? I dont.

[knocknock]

whats happened with them?

[bigbenjamin]

Published 4 hours ago:

Christmas appeal for release of Iraq hostages
Sunday, 25 December , 2005, 17:37

Baghdad: Iraqi newspapers on Sunday published an appeal by families for the release of four Western hostages, including Indo-Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden, after the kidnappers of a Jordanian issued an ultimatum demanding the release of a woman would-be suicide bomber arrested in Amman.

"Our dear ones have been kidnapped. They are all working as activists for the sake of peace and to aid the Iraqi people," read the appeal by families of four Christian aid workers kidnapped in Baghdad on November 26.

"A number of religious figures in the Arab and Islamic world have talked about the noble work which they are doing for the sake of Iraq and called for their immediate release. We also appeal for their safe return to us.

"If you have any information that could help us, please call the phone number and it is not necessary to reveal your identity," said the appeal carried by Iraqi newspapers both yesterday and today.

The families of Sooden, 32, Briton Norman Kember, 74, Canadian James Loney, 41, and and American Tom Fox, 54, all from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), were also expected to make a radio appeal tomorrow.


Peace, love and unity cheers!

[Vanessa]

The Canadians and the Brit are safe and on their way home..
http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Story/20060323-002/page.asp