Tom Fox Remembered Around the World as Dedicated Activist Who Devoted His Life to Peace

Tom Fox, the lone American among the four Christian Peacemaker Team members kidnapped in Iraq, has been found dead. Iraqi police said his body was discovered in Baghdad on Thursday with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. There were conflicting reports over whether he also showed signs of having been tortured. Police officials quoted by several news agencies said bruises on his body appeared to be inflicted by electrical cables. But an anonymous police official told the Washington Post that Fox showed no signs of torture.

Tom Fox was 54 years old. He came to Iraq with the Christian Peacemaker Teams -- a non-missionary organization that has been documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees, working with the families of prisoners and promoting peace. The CPT were the first to publicly denounce the torture of Iraqi people at the hands of U.S. forces, long before the media revealed what was happening at Abu Ghraib.

Fox and three others -- Harmeet Sooden and Jim Loney, both of Canada, and Norman Kember, of Britain --- were abducted in November. Last week, Al Jazeera broadcast the first video of the hostages seen in a month. The footage included the three others but not Tom Fox. The kidnappers have made repeated threats on the Peacemakers' lives unless all prisoners in US and Iraqi detention centers are released.

According to Newsweek, 45 kidnapped foreigners, including 14 US citizens, remain missing in Iraq. 430 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion. At least 54 of them have been executed by their captors. Meanwhile, Newsweek reports Iraqis are kidnapped at a rate of 10 to 30 people per day.

From the United States to Iraq, Tom Fox was remembered as a dedicated Christian pacifist who devoted his life to peace.

* Donna Hicks, Christian Peacemaker Teams.
* Kryss Chupp, Christian Peacemakers Teams.
* Abu Hasaneen Al-Qaissi, Baghdad resident.

Tom Fox's longtime friend, Isabella Bates, was among those who gathered this weekend at Langley Hill Friends Meeting in McLean, the Quaker community in Virginia where Fox had been a member for many years. Bates read aloud words Fox wrote about his mission in Iraq.

* Isabella Bates, longtime friend of Tom Fox, speaking in McLean, Virginia.

Here to help us remember the life of Tom Fox is Michele Naar-Obed. She's a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, and a friend and colleague of Tom Fox. She joins us on the line from Duluth, Minnesota, where she has just returned after two months in Iraq.

* Michele Naar-Obed, member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams. Friend and colleague of Tom Fox. She speaks to us from Duluth, Minnesota, where she has just returned from a two-month stay in Iraq.

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