Fresh Hostage Video But Same Worn Message

Once again, The Jawa Report is at the forefront of developments regarding hostages in Iraq. Rusty Shackleford has obtained video and still images of the four peace activists recently abducted in Iraq. Here's an overview:

A new video released by terrorists on an Islamic website today shows two of the four peace activists held hostage in Iraq in a scripted message asking for U.S. and U.K. troops to withdraw from Iraq. In the video, British hostage Norman Kember and American hostage Thomas Fox urge U.S. and U.K. withdrawal from Iraq several times, sometimes repeating themselves word for word.

Canadian hostages James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden are not seen on the video.

The hostages are seen blindfolded and in heavy chains. Like many other hostage videos, they are made to wear the orange jumpsuits reminiscent of Abu Ghraib. The video shows the hostages repeating their lines, sometimes in more than one take and at the direction of a voice heard offscreen.

The Sword of Righteousness Brigades claims responsibility for the kidnappings and threaten to behead the hostages in two days. Interestingly, although the latest video seems more scripted, it's essentially the same as previous hostage tapes. Check out the rest of Rusty's comprehensive report here.