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| Iraq |
| Likely al-Qaeda link suggests hostage situation may end badly |
| 2005-12-11 |
| Kidnappers holding four Western hostages in Iraq - including Auckland student Harmeet Singh Sooden - probably have links to the terrorist network that executed Briton Ken Bigley, CNN has reported. In a grim development as the deadline for the hostages' execution loomed yesterday, CNN said terrorism experts believed the previously unknown kidnappers identifying themselves as the Swords of Righteousness Brigade are connected to Jordanian-born Islamist militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and his "al Qaeda in Iraq" network. Sooden, 32, a Canadian citizen, and his Christian Peacemaking Team friends, fellow Canadian Jim Loney, American Tom Fox and Briton Norman Kember, were kidnapped near Baghdad University on November 26. Their captors are demanding the freeing of all Iraqi detainees in return for the hostages' lives. Their deadline was originally Thursday, but they extended it to yesterday. Bigley and US citizens Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong were beheaded in September last year after being kidnapped while working on civil engineering projects in Baghdad. On Wednesday, the government invoked terrorist media protocols to control reporting about the abduction and threatened execution of Sooden. It is only the second time the protocols have been invoked since they came into force in February - the first time was during the foot and mouth scare in May -and indicates the depth of government concern over Sooden's fate. Under the protocols, news organisations and the government agree to discuss coverage to ensure it minimises the risk to Sooden's life and avoids inflammatory reporting. The reasons for the protocols being invoked have not been revealed, but may be discussed when Sooden's situation is resolved. Sooden's family waited anxiously for news at their Auckland home yesterday. Brother-in-law Mark Brewer said it was "a very difficult day and bittersweet day". Brewer is married to Sooden's sister Preety. They spent the day with her parents Manjeet Kaur Sooden and Dalip Singh Sooden, who are visiting New Zealand from Zambia. Dalip Sooden, Harmeet's father, arrived in New Zealand on Thursday. Brewer said the family was exhausted but trying to look after themselves. "We did not sleep at all last night and we're trying to get a couple of hours sleep later as a family... (Dalip) is coping as well as someone can whose son is a hostage in Iraq." His arrival had been a great boost for the family, Brewer said. The family is planning to go to Jordan early next week, with the help of the Australian government which has phoned and offered transit visas to Sooden's parents, both of whom are travelling on Indian passports. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Brad Tattersfield said yesterday that there was no exact timing given for the expiry of the threatened execution deadline, other than it was "any time from now". There had still been no contact with the kidnappers, and Foreign Affairs had no further information as to their identity, or whether they were linked to Al-Zarqawi. "We are in constant touch with the Canadians. Essentially they have the people on the ground who are doing their best to make contact." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio... |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-12-11 01:52 |