BAGHDAD, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A British peace activist and Muslim leader arrived in Baghdad Saturday to try to win the release of four hostages from Britain, Canada and the United States.
Anas Altikriti hopes to meet with Sunni Muslim leaders in an effort to open communications with the kidnappers, the BBC reports. Altikriti represents the Muslim Association of Britain, Stop The War and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
The hostages, Norman Kember of Britain, Tom Fox from the United States and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, are members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, an organization that has been active in Iraq since 2002.
The kidnappers, a group called Swords of Truth Brigades, claim they are actually spies.
In a video broadcast Friday, the kidnappers said the hostages would be killed unless all prisoners now being held in Iraq and in U.S. detention centers are freed.
