[271.2] KEMBER VIGIL IN LONDON ON MONDAY

At St Martin's-in-the-Field, Trafalagar Square, London, from 18:00-19:00, tomorrow evening. Details on Independent Catholic News, and later today on Ekklesia. People are also asked to maintain a period of quiet and prayer at midday, daily.

13.05 GMT. A representative of the Iraqi government has told the BBC that, in the absence of further news, attempts to secure the release of the four CPTers and the two other abductees continues, but that the kidnap gang are "an unknown group" with whom there has been no direct contact. The Iraqi prime minister has said that the insurgents who have continued kidnapping and killing across the country are composed of three factions - Saddamists, militants from outside the country, and "those who think that all except themselves are interlopers."

A full briefing on CPT can be found here.

Further prayer vigil information; Mennonite Church USA Peace and Justice Support Network. Mennonite Church Canada. UK vigils - Fellowship of Reconciliation. Pax Christi (*.PDF).

See also Observer Focus: the race against time in Iraq - How the Muslim world battled for the life of Norman Kember. A good background piece by Jamie Doward, who quotes my colleague Jonathan Bartley. And this piece by Michelle Naar Obed, who knows two of the captives personally.

Petition for the release of the four.

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