[12.15 GMT] Christian Peacemaker Teams' statement today on the freeing of three activists in Iraq (Ekklesia, UK). Press Conferences CHICAGO: CPT Public Witness Against the War, Independence Park, 3742 W. Irving Park Road, 9:00A.M. CST, Thurs. March 23, 2006 TORONTO: 25 Cecil Street, 6:30 A.M. EST, Thurs. March 23, 2006. Addendum: A Mennonite news service has refuted earlier reports, reporting that Tom Fox's body showed no signs of torture when viewed by relatives and friends after arrival in the US and before his cremation (unconfirmed).

[10.30 GMT] MORE ON NORMAN KEMBER'S RELEASE: British hostage Kember freed in Iraq rescue; Peacemaker who wanted to help (BBC News, UK); Indian-origin hostage freed in Iraq (Sify, India); Retired professor 'harmless as a dove' (Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom); UK 'delighted' at hostage release (ePolitix, UK); . Ihtisham Hibatullah, a spokesperson for Anas Tikriti, the envoy to Iraq at the Muslim Association of Britain, said on Thursday they were "very relieved" that Mr Kember and his colleagues were alive, and that it was fantastic news for their families. FinS comment to the BBC - "This is the good news many of us prayed and worked for but perhaps never dared to believe. Many will call them foolish, but Christian Peacemaker Teams remain committed to Iraq, and to nonviolent witness against the dismal cycles of violence that threaten the future of Iraq - and the world." Add your comments here.

[09.42 GMT] AMAZING NEWS - THE CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER CAPTIVES ARE FREE: News is just emerging from various sources that Norman Kember, Harmeet Singh Sooden and Jim Loney have been freed from captivity in Iraq -- two weeks after the tragic killing of their colleague Tom Fox, whose body was found on a Baghdad rubbish tip. The three men were apparently rescued by a special forces unit which stormed the house where they were being held, west of Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams has been working in Iraq since October 2002, investigating allegations of abuse against Iraqi detainees by American and Iraqi forces. Reports: Norman Kember freed (Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - 9 minutes ago); British man Norman Kember rescued from Iraqi captors (Unison.ie, Ireland); ITN Reports: Norman Kember released (ITN, UK); British hostage Norman Kember released (ITV.com, UK); Kember freed in Iraq (Reuters, UK); Three Western hostages freed in Iraq (The Age, Australia); Norman Kember freed (Guardian Unlimited, UK); One British, two Canadian hostages freed in Iraq (CJAD, Canada); Special forces free Iraq hostages (CNN International, USA). British Home Secretary Jack Straw says that he has spoken to Norman's wife, Pat Kember, who is understandably "overjoyed" at the news.

[14.05 GMT] Court martial for Iraq refusenik (BBC News, UK); CPT Iraq member Beth Pyles returns home, available for interviews (Christian Peacemaker Teams). Scholar Chalmers Johnson presents crucial, revealing insights into the nature and impact of imperial militarism on the American economy and culture in a must-read interview. The humanitarian disaster is further illustrated in a report from Caritas Internationalis.

[09.15 GMT] Three years on Iraqis speak about their disappointments and fears (Ekklesia, UK); Friends recall Tom Fox: Quaker service remembers murdered hostage (Frederick News Post, MD, USA).

[22.15 GMT] Christian peacemakers protest on third anniversary of Iraq invasion (Ekklesia, UK); Thousands of Canadians take to the streets (ChronicleHerald.ca, Canada); 'Way too much bloodshed' (London Free Press, Canada); Add Tom Fox's name to book of martyrs (Pueblo Chieftain, CO, USA). Since Fox's death, slurs against CPT and its supporters in the right-wing media and conservative commentators - mainly of the "useful idiots" variety - have increased significantly. Most of these make no attempt to understand the true motivation and perspective of Christian peacemakers. In A Christian Peacemaker Team member sets the record straight (Centre Daily Times, PA, USA), the Rev David B. Miller, pastor of University Mennonite Church in State College, Central Pennsylvania, offers a cogent and temperate response to one of these attacks. [Pic: Toronto anti-war protests]

[04.14 GMT] Thousands join anti-war protest (BBC, UK).

[03.30 GMT] Two who fought the good fight, for bodies and souls (Los Angeles Times, CA, USA); National Gurdwara Co-Sponsors Vigil at Capital Hill (SikhSangat News, Canada); Vigil For James Loney (LTVNEWS.COM, Canada); Seven days in Iraq (Guardian Unlimited, UK); Tom Fox Honored as a Peacemaker at Nashville Memorial (Tennessee Independent Media, TN, USA); Quaker hostage killed in Iraq (The Independent Weekly, NC, USA).

[22.00 GMT] Step back George, Step up people of faith (Ekklesia, UK) - Ron Kraybill of Eastern Mennonite University on why Bush, the European Union and the UN should recognise their limitations in the Muslim world.

[20.45 GMT] Peacemaker returns from volatile Iraq (Toronto Star, Canada); Three years on, Europe weary of war in Iraq (Middle East Online, UK); Activist killed in Iraq honoured (Richmond Times Dispatch, VA, USA); US left stays mum as terrorists target 'their people' (Scripps Howard News Service, Washington DC, USA); Peacemakers, by Michael de Yoanna (Colorado Springs Independent, CO, USA); Honour hostage killed in Iraq with peace effort, mourners told (Daily Press, VA, USA).

[00.00 GMT] Palestinians release Canadian, last of 11 hostages seized (CBC News, Canada - pic); A View From the Eye of the Storm (AINA, CA, USA); Anti-War Movement Casualty of In-Fighting (CNSNews.com, VA, USA). UPI Commentary: High geopolitical stakes (World Peace Herald, Washington DC, USA): "Congress has asked veteran bipartisan geopolitical thinkers James A. Baker III, the former Secretary of State, and Lee H. Hamilton, former chairman of the House International Relations Committee, and co-chairman of the 9/11 Commission, to lead an "Iraq Study Group" of 10 prominent Republicans and Democrats. With the president's "war on terror" ratings down to 36 percent, the Iraqi "rethink" group came not a moment too soon. Much bigger threats than civil war in Iraq already loom on horizon 2007. Israel is marking its new frontier with a 420-mile, $2.2 billion barrier that leaves Hamas free to cobble together a state from the patchwork of land left, sans East Jerusalem, which can be neither viable nor contiguous, as pledged by George Bush. Intifada III is now only a matter of time - with rockets and missiles over the wall."

[21.00 GMT] Christians meet to step up peacemaking in Israel and Palestine (Ekklesia, UK); Eastern Mennonite University to Hold Memorial Service for Slain Christian Peacemaker (Christian Post, CA, USA).

[00.00 GMT] Radio broadcast about Tom Fox, killed in Iraq (Pacifica Radio, USA); Hostage's death brings fresh fears (ic Coventry, UK); Greens Mourn Tom Fox, Peace Worker and Hostage Murdered in Iraq (Green Party US [press release], Washington DC, USA); American peace activist killed in Iraq (Christian Science Monitor, MA, USA).

[02.10 GMT] Prayers for slain Christian peace activist Tom Fox (Toronto Sun, Canada); Palestinians, US Quakers mourn activist killed in Iraq (Ha'aretz, Israel-Palestine); here is a powerful aricle on the neglect of the story behind the CPT four here: Tom Fox, death squads & the dogs of war (Political Cortex, NY, USA); and a sad reminder of the hatred that consumes some in the US: American hostage killed in Iraq...well, you asked for it (American Daily, USA).

[20.30 GMT] EASTER PEOPLE in a GOOD FRIDAY WORLD: Witnessing Christ in the Conflict of Life (Churches Together in Britain and Ireland Lent Course 2006) - summary plus ordering details; Greenbelt - "Peace is worth the risk"; Body of Christian peacemaker returns home (Ekklesia, UK); Fellowship of Reconciliation: latest on the hostage crisis; UK troop numbers to fall by 800 The number of UK troops in Iraq will be reduced by 800 to 7,000, Defence Secretary John Reid announces. (BBC News, UK). Where are British troops?; Reducing troops, changing views; Kember family braced after hostage killing (The Sunday Times, UK); Tom Fox (Beliefnet.com, NY, USA); Churches remember Norman Kember (Anglican Diocese of Lichfield, UK); Peace team stays in Iraq despite hostage killing (San Diego Union Tribune, United States); Tom Fox Remembered Around the World as Dedicated Activist (Bay Area Indymedia, CA, USA); Iraqi journalist becomes fifth killed in sectarian violence (Leesville Daily Leader, LA, USA); Peace team reveal fears for hostages (Greenock Telegraph, UK).

[23.45 GMT] US in talks to close Guantanamo Bay and Christian peacemakers warn against demonisation following death of Tom Fox (Ekklesia, UK); Iraq peace activists morn Tom Fox's death (CathNews, Australia); Friends Remember Slain American Hostage (KFMB, CA, USA); Family ignore torture claims (New Zealand Herald, New Zealand); Iraq: The reckoning (Bay Area Indymedia, CA, USA); Hostage negotiator disappears (Times Online, UK) - a repeat of the dispute story first circulated by the Toronto Star last year. It was contested by CPT and by Ekklesia. The Star declined to respond to questions about their sources. The torture allegations relating to Tom Fox are also unsubstantiated at the moment. Informed observers are relectant to either feed or draw upon the active Baghdad rumour-mill at present. Meanwhile, St George's Anglican Church in the Iraqi capital is seeking assistance with its building project. The appeal is being circulated by, among others, Bishop Michael Langrish of Exeter.

[18.30 GMT] Fears for hostage after killing (BBC News, UK): Concern grows for kidnapped British peace activist Norman Kember (pictured), after fellow Iraq hostage is found dead. Harmeet Singh Sooden and Jim Loney from Canada are also being held. Kipnappers Tortured Slain American Peace Worker, Iraq Says (New York Times, NY, United States). "Tom Fox, the kidnapped American peace advocate whose body was found this week, had apparently been tortured by his captors before being shot multiple times in the head and dumped on a trash heap next to a railway line in western Baghdad, an official at the Iraqi Interior Ministry said today." And in spite of CPT pleas not to use force or aggression on behalf of the captives, US troops raided households in the neighbourhood where the body was found. The overall situation is very grim indeed - but the vigils and calls for release of the remaining three go on.

[04.36 GMT] TRAGIC NEWS FROM IRAQ - TOM FOX IS DEAD

[via Ekklesia] The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the USA has confirmed that the body of an American citizen found in Iraq yesterday is that of Tom Fox, one of four Christian peace activists kidnapped on 26 November 2005.

Fox's family has been informed of the tragic loss. There is no further news of the other hostages - Briton Norman Kember and Canadians Jim Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden – who were seen recently on a video released to the al-Jazeera TV station.

Expressions of sorrow and solidarity have begun to pour into the headquarters of Christian Peacemaker Teams, following the news of Tom Fox’s death.

CPT, an ecumenically-supported ministry of the historic peace churches (Mennonites, Brethren in Christ and Quakers) says that the awful news will not deter their determination to confront Iraq’s occupation and cycle of violence with “unarmed love”.

At a hastily convened global press conference in Chicago this morning, the following statement was released the world’s media:

“In grief we tremble before God who wraps us with compassion. The death of our beloved colleague and friend pierces us with pain. Tom Fox's body was found in Baghdad yesterday.

“Christian Peacemaker Teams extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to the family and community of Tom Fox, with whom we have traveled so closely in these days of crisis.

“We mourn the loss of Tom Fox who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone.

“We renew our plea for the safe release of Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember.

“Each of our teammates has responded to Jesus's prophetic call to live out a nonviolent alternative to the cycle of violence and revenge.

“In response to Tom's passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done.

“In Tom's own words: ‘We reject violence to punish anyone. We ask that there be no retaliation on relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their enemies. We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation.’

“Even as we grieve the loss of our beloved colleague, we stand in the light of his strong witness to the power of love and the courage of nonviolence. That light reveals the way out of fear and grief and war.

“Through these days of crisis, Christian Peacemaker Teams has been surrounded and upheld by a great outpouring of compassion: messages of support, acts of mercy, prayers, and public actions offered by the most senior religious councils and by school children, by political leaders and by those organizing for justice and human rights, by friends in distant nations and by strangers near at hand.

“These words and actions sustain us.

“While one of our teammates is lost to us, the strength of this outpouring is not lost to God’s movement for just peace among all peoples.

“At the forefront of that support are strong and courageous actions from Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world for which we are profoundly grateful.

“Their graciousness inspires us to continue working for the day when Christians speak up as boldly for the human rights of thousands Iraqis still detained illegally by the United States and United Kingdom.

“Such an outpouring of action for justice and peace would be a fitting memorial for Tom.

“Let us all join our voices on behalf of those who continue to suffer under occupation, whose loved ones have been killed or are missing, and in so doing may we hasten the day when both those who are wrongly detained and those who bear arms will return safely to their homes.

“In such a peace we will find solace for our grief.

“Despite the tragedy of this day, we remain committed to put into practice these words of Jim Loney: ‘With the waging of war, we will not comply. With the help of God’s grace, we will struggle for justice. With God's abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies.’

“We continue in hope for Jim, Harmeet and Norman's safe return home safe.”

Also: Christian peacemakers say Bush and Blair responsible for abduction of colleagues in Iraq 08/03/06; Report documents continuing abuse of Iraq detainees 08/03/06. Tom Fox reflection: "Why are we here?",written the day before the abduction. CPT Iraq Statement of Conviction signed by Tom in March 2005.

[00.01 GMT] Many apologies for the inactivity of this site since 21 February, due to circumstances beyond my control. Normal service is now resumed.

[00.00 GMT] Reuters is tracking foreign hostages in Iraq, in addition to security incidents and military and civilian deaths. Their tallies include up to 8,840 military casualties, and 32,041 Iraqi civilians. Of over 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqi's taken hostage in Iraq since 2003, the news agency names thirty-eight internationals still believed missing. The number of Iraqis presently held captive is unknown. Some estimates say 2,000 or more. A new report released by the International Crisis Group says that the US-led Coalition "seem[s] to know little about the enemies they are fighting in Iraq," while the International Red Cross testifies about the freshly-released gruesome images of torture from Abu Ghraib.