Christian group blames kidnapping of Canadians in Iraq on U.S., British aggression
30 November, 2005
MONTREAL: A Christian pacifist group has named its four activists who were kidnapped in Iraq while blaming "illegal acts" by the United States and Britain for their abductions.
At the same time, Canada`s prime minister has said there was "no more urgent priority" for his government than the safe return of the two Canadians in the group.
The US and Canada-based Christian Peacemaker Teams said in a statement that American Tom Fox, 54; Briton Norman Kember, 74; and two Canadians, James Loney, 41 and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, were kidnapped in Baghdad on Saturday.
The four were activists for "non-violent peacemaking" and human rights in Iraq for Christian Peacemaker Teams, an umbrella group for pacifist church activism.
In a statement, the group blamed the occupation of Iraq by US and British forces for the kidnappings.
"We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the US and UK governments due to the illegal attack on Iraq, and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people," the group said.
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