Journalist kidnapped in Iraq as friends pray for peace workers

-07/01/06

As friends and supporters gathered in the centre of Birmingham and London to call for the release of Christian peace activist Norman Kember and three colleagues held hostage in Iraq, details began to emerge of a fresh kidnapping of a Western journalist.

The woman, unnamed at the moment, is American. She and her driver, and Iraqi Christian, were ambushed on their way to interview prominent Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi Consensus Front.

A guard outside Dulaimi's office said he heard gunshots a short distance away. Rushing to the scene, he found the translator, badly wounded.

The man, Alin Ghazi Jack, was able to confirm that a US journalist had been kidnapped. He died shortly afterwards.

An Iraqi defence ministry official confirmed: "A Western journalist was abducted by armed men in the Adl district of western Baghdad and her translator found dead."

The US Embassy says that it is investigating the situation. Iraqi soldiers have cordoned off the area. Thirteen others have died in further armed incidents today.

There has been an upswing in insurgency activities since the recent Iraqi elections, the full results of which are still awaited. Early results suggest that a Shia coalition is ahead.

Iraq's National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie says Iraq's security forces are close to being able to deal with the insurgency.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has promised full international backing for a government of national unity in Iraq. He was speaking in the Iraqi capital after meeting political leaders including Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.

Mr Jaafari reaffirmed that the next government would be enlarged to include all the main parties.

More than 200 foreigners have been abducted by gangs seeking ransom or armed groups trying to force foreign governments pull out their occupying troops from Iraq. Many have been safely released, but around 50 have been killed.

Iraq was the most dangerous place for journalists in 2005 and the deadliest conflict for media workers in the last 24 years, according to a recent report from the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

'The war in Iraq might lead one to think that reporters are losing their lives on the battlefield. But the fact is that three out of four journalists killed around the world are singled out for murder, and their killers are rarely brought to justice. It's a terrible indictment of governments that let warlords and criminals dictate the news their citizens can see and hear,' said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper.

Iraq accounted for 22 deaths in 2005, or nearly half of the year's total, the CPJ found.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends of Norman Kember, Tom Fox, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden - all volunteers with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq - are anxiously awaiting news about them.

There has been no directed reported contact with their captors, the Swords of Truth Brigades. But international Muslim support exists for the four, who oppose the occupation and had been assisting detainees.

The inter-faith vigils in Britain have matched similar events in Palestine, Canada, New Zealand.

In the US Christian Peacemaker Teams are organising an Epiphany vigil outside the White House. They have asked for a meeting with President George W. Bush.