Al-Jazeera airs tape of Christian hostages

The channel also said that the men had asked their respective governments to work for their release.

Al-Jazeera has broadcast a 25-second silent videotape showing three of the four Christian Peacemaker activists who were taken hostage on February 28.

HT Image

The channel also said that the men had asked their respective governments to work for their release.

Maxine Nash, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Baghdad, said that the missing man was Tom Fox from America. The others, who were on the tape, were James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden from Canada, and Norman Kember from England.

The four were last seen together on a videotape, also broadcast by Al-Jazeera, on January 28. The tape broadcast on Tuesday showed the three men sitting in chairs and speaking, although there was no sound.

One of those on the tape had white hair and a slight beard, while the other two had dark hair and full beards.

In the broadcast on January 28, the hostage-takers had issued a statement saying that it was the "last chance" for US and Iraqi authorities to "release all the Iraqi prisoners in return for the hostages, who otherwise would be killed." No deadline was set.