CND in the News
CND in the News: 22-27 January 2006
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1 Vigil for kidnapped peace worker
21 January 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/4634606.stm
A vigil has been held in Nottingham on Saturday for Norman Kember, the
British peace activist kidnapped in Iraq.
The 74-year-old from Pinner, North London, was abducted in Iraq on 26
November by a group calling themselves The Swords of Truth. But there
has been no recent news from his kidnappers.
The vigil in the Old Market Square was the second such event organised
by Nottingham's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Mr Kember was taken captive along with Canadians James Loney, 41, and
Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and an American Tom Fox, 54.
The Swords of Truth group demands all Iraqis detained by coalition forces
be freed but two deadlines they set have not been met and there has been
no word about the hostages.
Mark Ramsey, from Nottingham CND, is a friend of Mr Kember's.
He said: "He's been a pacifist all his life. When he came to do national
service, instead he worked in a hospital rather than doing national service."
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2 New appeal for Norman Kember highlights health concerns
24 January 2006
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060124kemb.shtml
Pat Kember, wife of the 74-year-old peace campaigner Norman Kember, who
has been held hostage in Iraq for two months, appealed again for the release
of her ailing husband in a televised message aired by the al-Jazeera network.
Dr Kember, together with American Tom Fox and Canadians Jim Loney and
Harmeet Singh Sooden, were kidnapped outside a mosque in Baghdad on 26
November 2005. They had been working for justice for Iraqi detainees.
“Please show compassion and mercy. Please release [Norman] and
his friends soon,” said Mrs Kember, who lives in north London. “They
are good people and they will resume work to make Iraq safer and more
peaceful.” She added: “I am extremely worried because his
condition might be deteriorating. He suffers from high blood pressure
and from aneurysm (swelling of an artery).”
The Qatar-based television station showed the tape yesterday. It dubbed
the message into Arabic so that the abductors and those known to them
would be able to receive it.
The Swords of Truth Brigades, a previously unknown group who carried
out the kidnapping, issued a video of the four men and initially accused
them of being spies of the US-led forces. It threatened to kill them unless
prisoners in Iraqi jails were freed.
Muslim scholars and activists from around the world, including leaders
of the militant Hamas and Hizbollah groups, have appealed for the release
of the peace workers. They say that they are friends of Iraq and also
of the Palestinian people. There have been protests and vigils on their
behalf in Gaza and Hebron, too. Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) has a
positive profile their.
Thousands of civilians have been kidnapped since the fall of Saddam Hussein,
including more than 200 foreigners seized by gangs seeking ransom or insurgents
trying to pressure their governments to withdraw from Iraq. Many foreign
hostages have been released, but around 50 have been killed. Supporters
of the CPT four are hopeful that the men will be freed, given their public
opposition to war and occupation.
Regular appeals are now being made on radio, TV and in the Iraqi press
on behalf of the Christian peacemakers. Islamic radicals detained in the
USA and Britain have also called for their release, along with senior
Sunni clerics and envoys sent on behalf of Muslim organizations in Canada
and Britain.
Regular vigils are being held for the four in their countries of origin.
A few days ago the Nottingham branch of the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament (CND) held a vigil for Dr Kember, a friend of the
organizer.
In the USA Christian Peacemaker Teams are seeking a meeting with President
George Bush to discuss Iraq policy, the plight of the hostages and the
injustices meted out against Iraqi detainees
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3 Group warns of nuclear convoy
Tuesday, January 24
http://www.hemelhempsteadtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=841&ArticleID=1324391
:Local CND supporters have once again called for an end
to lorry convoys transporting nuclear waste.
The campaigners say trains laden with the waste regularly pass though
Dacorum and convoys of lorries bearing nuclear warheads are transported
along the M25.
Members of the local Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
branch photographed a convoy on the motorway earlier this month and is
backing a nationwide call for an end to these practices.
But the Ministry of Defence say the lorries pose no danger.
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