Pope Johnny Appeals to Release Hostages

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/me...ges/index.html

(CNN) -- Pope John Paul II has called on Iraqi kidnappers to show "humanity" and free their hostages.

In his weekly appearance in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sunday, the pontiff said he was "following with great sadness the tragic news that is coming out of the Holy Land and Iraq."

"I am particularly close in thought and prayer to the families of all those who fear for the fate of their loved ones, especially all those who have been taken hostage," The Associated Press quoted the pope as saying.

"I invite the kidnappers to have feelings of humanity. ... I entreat them to give back to the families the persons who are in their hands, while I pray to merciful God for the populations of the Holy Land and Iraq and for all those in that region who work for reconciliation and peace."

Several foreign nationals have been kidnapped in Iraq in recent days, including five Japanese civilians who were subsequently freed, four Italians -- one of whom was killed -- and a U.S. Army soldier.

The armed insurgents holding U.S. Army Pfc. Keith Matthew Maupin, 20, a reservist from Batavia, Ohio, said they want to trade the American for prisoners being held by the coalition. (Full story)

The Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera aired footage on Friday of Maupin with hooded men, including four holding rifles and one with a pistol, standing behind him.

Military authorities were able to look at the videotape before it was aired, and a senior coalition official said Maupin appeared to be in good health and showed "no characteristics of having been tortured" or roughed up.

"He's obviously scared, but anyone in that situation would be as well," the official said. Soldiers generally are given a code of conduct to follow if captured, he added.

U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Bruce Frame said Maupin is one of two U.S. soldiers unaccounted for since last Friday, when their fuel convoy came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire near Baghdad.

Also missing since the attack is Sgt. Elmer Krause, 40, of Greensboro, North Carolina. Both he and Maupin were with the Army's 724th Transportation Company out of Bartonsville, Illinois.

Six civilian contractors of the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root are also missing since the fuel convoy attack.

Another KBR contractor, Thomas Hamill, a truck driver from Macon, Mississippi, has been seen on videotape in the custody of armed men with their faces covered.

His captors said they would kill him on Easter Sunday if the United States did not withdraw its troops from the Sunni city of Fallujah. The deadline to meet demands from his captors has come and gone.

Japanese civilians freed
Two Japanese citizens who had been listed as missing this week were released on Saturday at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Three other Japanese civilians -- a journalist, an aid worker and a health researcher -- were released Thursday. They were abducted April 8.

Militants seized the trio last week and threatened to burn them alive if demands for Japan to pull its troops from Iraq were not met.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- a staunch supporter of the U.S. in Iraq -- refused to do so and hailed their release.

Meanwhile, three Czech journalists held hostage in Iraq said they were moved from place to place by their abductors and handed off to different groups during their captivity.

The three are journalists Michael Kubal and Petr Klima from Czech TV, and Vit Pohanka from Czech Radio. They were taken near Fallujah this week and freed Friday. (Full story)

Other developments

A Syrian-born Canadian who was held hostage in Iraq was released Friday, a spokesman for the International Rescue Committee.


A Danish citizen is missing and believed to be held hostage in Iraq, according to a statement released Friday from the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


An Australian peace activist claimed Friday she was kidnapped and held for 20 hours by Muslim fighters in Fallujah, Iraq. Donna Mulhearn told Sydney radio stations she and three other foreign humanitarian workers were seized Wednesday by heavily armed rebels as they tried to leave Fallujah. Mulhearn's claims could not immediately be verified. She previously made headlines when she acted as a human shield in Baghdad before last year's U.S.-led invasion.

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It's a long shot....but it just might work! Good Luck, Johnny! (Not to be confused with IW's Johnny. [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

[johnny]

Bedankt voor de bloeeeeemen.

[General Nosaj]

Who listens to the pope anyway. I can't believe he's meant to be alive!

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

Because those fundamentalists are such closet Catholics it's not even funny.
But I suppose it's good to know he's not just sitting around doing nothing.

[promethius9594]

as a general, snr. nosaj, some strategic information for you:

Catholics make up roughly 1/5th of the world population clocking in at 1.07 Billion members. This represents the largest single grouping of people based on a belief system.

does that answer your question of who listens to the pope?

[johnny]

Well, i'm a catholic, but i'm not at all interrested in what the man has to say, and not just because i can't understand his mumbling.

[Stratos]

He can even mumble in several different languages.

[General Nosaj]

Originally posted by promethius9594: as a general, snr. nosaj, some strategic information for you: Catholics make up roughly 1/5th of the world population clocking in at 1.07 Billion members. This represents the largest single grouping of people based on a belief system. does that answer your question of who listens to the pope?

That is the majority of people with a belief system but is it the overall majority? No!