[amc] CPT AP story 11/30/05
- From: wseverin1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Werner J. Severin)
- To: amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:40:55 -0500
Pacifist Group Experienced in War Zones
By MICHAEL TARM (Associated Press Writer)
From Associated Press
November 30, 2005 12:57 PM EST
CHICAGO - Four Christian peace activists taken hostage in Iraq belong to a
group that has spent more than 15 years walking into some of world's
hottest war zones, usually armed only with notes explaining that they
aren't there to convert anyone.
Such a declaration, written in Arabic, was likely what the Christian
Peacemaker Teams activists were carrying when they were abducted in Iraq,
spokeswoman Jessica Phillips said.
Blurry television footage broadcast Tuesday showed the frightened men,
taken by a previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of
Righteousness Brigade.
"Because of our stance on pacifism, we walk into situations quite
vulnerable," Phillips said. "In our training, we explain that what we do is
high risk. You need to have a sober reality of that going in."
The Chicago-based organization - supported by several Protestant
denominations that believe Christianity forbids all war-making and violence
- has sent activists into war zones, including Bosnia and Haiti, since the
late 1980s. It has about 160 members around the world and about a dozen in
Iraq.
The kidnapped men had been witnessing the conditions of civilians and
detainees, intending to go home and speak to church and other groups to
call for an end to the fighting, Phillips said.
Three of the activists had been in Iraq for a little more than a week, and
the other had been in the country for several months, she said.
The group listed the names of those abducted as Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook,
Va.; Norman Kember, 74, of London; and James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh
Sooden, 32, of Canada.
The group adamantly opposes the current Iraq war. It issued a statement
saying the kidnappings are "the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K.
government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation
and oppression of its people."
Despite its name, Christian Peacemaker Teams works in the name of peace,
not religion, Phillips said.
"We are very strict about this: We do not do any evangelism; we are not
missionaries," she said. "Our interest is to bring an end to the violence
and destruction of civilian life in Iraq."
However, people in Islamic countries often assume the organization is out
to proselytize, Phillips said.
Other activists say the group is known as peaceful and low-key.
"They are generally not considered to be extremely conservative," said Dori
Dinsmore, the director of Amnesty International's Chicago office. "They
have a strong grass-roots focus, and they try not to draw too much
attention to themselves."
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Werner J. Severin
3108 Silverleaf Drive
Austin, Tx. 78757-1611
(512) 452-5080
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Austin Mennonite Church, (512) 926-3121 www.mennochurch.org
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