IRAQ: Islamic groups demand release of kidnapped aid workers in Iraq

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/9ceeb493371adc4bf45bdaa416e9ecd0.htm

SANA, 9 December (IRIN) - Islamic scholars and groups from the Middle East and Asia attending a conference in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, have issued a joint statement demanding the immediate release of four kidnapped aid workers in Iraq. snip

The statement was issued by a mixture of more than 25 Islamic groups from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, India and Pakistan. It was released during a conference discussing the situation of the Occupied Palestine Territories organised by the Al-Quds International Foundation and held in the Yemeni capital.

Mohammed Qathan, head of the political branch of Al-Islah Party, the second largest political party in Yemen attending the conference, told IRIN in Sana'a that killing the aid workers would be "inhumane and un-Islamic."

"Such peace activists should have been welcomed into Iraq and treated as honourable guests instead of being kidnapped and used as a bargaining chip. Neither the hostages nor the organisation they represent possess the means of forcing the occupation authorities to free the Iraqis held in its detention centres across Iraq," the statement said.