Hostage takers in Iraq extend deadline

Kidnappers of four western Christian activists in Iraq Wednesday announced an extension of the deadline to kill their captives for two days until Saturday.

The hostage takers, identifying themselves as belonging to a previously-unknown group Sword of Righteousness, have originally set the deadline at Thursday.

The four, Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74, and US citizen Tom Fox, 54, all belonged to the Christian Peacemaker Teams, were kidnapped in Baghdad on Nov. 26.

The kidnappers accused them of being spies and threatened to kill them Thursday unless Iraqis held at US and Iraqi-run prisons were released.

The extension was announced in a statement that accompanied a video of two of the hostages, identified to be Fox and Kember. The two other hostages were not shown on the short video footage.

The family of James Loney made a plea for his life at a Wednesday press conference. Loney's family expressed a relief soon after hearing the news.

"I don't know if it's a sigh of relief but it's definitely a break in the clouds," said Loney's brother, Ed.

It "appears the message is being received of peace and goodwill toward Iraqis and Muslims in general by the captors," he added.

Source: Xinhua