The New Zealand-based family of a Indo-Canadian being held hostage in Iraq Thursday said they believed that the lack of contact by his kidnappers may be a good sign.
Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, was kidnapped November 26 in Baghdad along with three other members of the Chicago-based group Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The kidnapped were involved in humanitarian work at the time of their abduction. Their kidnappers, who identified themselves as the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, a previously unknown group, threatened to kill the hostages if Iraqi prisoners are not released from American and Iraqi jails by December 8, the Arabic satellite television network Al-Jazeera reported.
The other abducted group members are Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Virginia; Norman Kember, 74, of London and James Loney, 41, of Toronto.
There has been no recent contact from the kidnappers or information on the men's fate. Sooden's brother-in-law Mark Brewer Thursday said the family continued to regard the lack of news about the hostages as a positive signal.
"We haven't heard anything. We put no news down as good news," he told National Radio.
"We've had a lot of support from the international community and Muslim groups making appeals for their release. We are not too concerned about it (the lack of news), but we do want to see an end to this," he added.
