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Iraq

Sunni clerics plead for Christian hostages' release

BAGHDAD - Sunni Arab clerics pleaded Friday for the lives of four Christian peace activists on the eve of a deadline set by their kidnappers to kill them unless U.S. and Iraqi authorities release all prisoners.

Sunni clerics also used the last major weekly religious service before Thursday's national elections to urge a big Sunni turnout. One Sunni preacher called the parliamentary vote "a decisive battle that will determine our future."

In sermons at major Sunni mosques, clerics asked for the release of the four Christians because of their humanitarian work and condemnation of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

A spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential Sunni clerical organization, said he hoped the four were in the hands of insurgents and not a criminal gang. The association is believed to have links to some Sunni-led insurgent groups.

The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigade set today as a deadline for killing Norman Kember, 74, of London; Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va.; and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32. They were seized two weeks ago.

A French aid worker and a German citizen also are being held by kidnappers. There was no word Friday on the fate of an American hostage, Ronald Allen Schulz, after an Internet statement claimed he was killed.

American troops detained a high-ranking member of al-Qaida in Iraq after he was turned in Friday by residents of Ramadi, the U.S. military said. Amir Khalaf Fanus, also known as "the Butcher," was wanted for murder and kidnapping, said Marine Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool.

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:52:07]