Mothers appeal for Canadians’ release
Three Muslims detained in Canada under security laws have joined an appeal to save the lives of two Canadian peace activists being held under threat of death in Iraq. A New York- based website yesterday posted an appeal from Mahmoud Jaballah, Mohammad Mahjoub and Hassan Almrei, who are being held on national security certificates. They called for the release of humanitarian workers James Loney, 41, of Toronto, and former Montrealer Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, who were abducted on Nov. 26 along with American Tom Fox, 54, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The members of U. S.- based Christian Peacemaker Teams were snatched in Baghdad by gunmen who identified themselves as the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The kidnappers threatened to execute the hostages on Thursday if their demands for the release of Iraqi detainees are not met.
Loney’s family issued an appeal yesterday asking the captors to release the men to continue their humanitarian work, said William Payne, a spokesperson for Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Also yesterday, Sooden’s mother spoke to a news network in New Zealand, where her son has been studying for the past three years.
“ I want to appeal to those who are holding my son to release him and his companions unharmed,” Manjeet Kaur Sooden is quoted on TV3 as saying. “Harmeet . . . is a peace-loving man,” she said, her voice cracking. “ He went to Iraq to do good. I pray those who are holding Harmeet will look into their hearts ( and) see the good that is in my son,” she said. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday her country has offered assistance in “ working toward the safe release of the hostages.
“ This is a terrible act against humanitarian aid workers who had gone to help the people of Iraq,” Clark said.
Pat Kember, wife of the British hostage, made an emotional appeal on the Al- Jazeera network yesterday saying her husband “ is a very caring man” who wanted to help alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people. Matthew Behrens, a Toronto- based organizer with the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, said the statement on the World War 4 Report website had been dictated to him on Saturday by the three men who were being detained in Toronto. The mission statement on the World War 4 Report site said it had been monitoring the global war on terrorism and its implications for human rights, democracy and ecology since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U. S.
“ We hope and pray to see these captives freed as much as we hope and pray for our own freedom here in Canada, a freedom for which James Loney has worked so hard,” the statement said.