Al-Jazeera Airs Videotape Of Hostages Held In Iraq

A video grab from Al-Jazeera shows the four Christian peace activists being held hostage in Iraq, pictured in January 2006. (AFP) March 7, 2006 -- The Arabic satellite television Al-Jazeera has broadcast a silent videotape showing three of four Christian peace activists being held hostage in Iraq.

The four -- two Canadians, an American, and a Briton -- were last seen in a videotape aired January 28. They were taken hostage in November.

In the March 7 broadcast, the station said the men asked their governments and countries in the Persian Gulf to work for their release. The video bore a February 28 date stamp.

The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

The four -- James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, Tom Fox, and Norman Kember -- are among dozens of foreigners being held in Iraq and threatened with death if neither Iraqi government nor the U.S.-led coalition release Iraqi prisoners.

(Reuters, AP)