The deadline for the threatened execution of four Western hostages in Iraq has passed without any word from the kidnappers
British hostage Norman Kember (74) is being held with three other men, two Canadians and an American, by The Swords of Righteousness Brigade, since November 26th.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had no information about the hostages, with no sign that any contact had been established with the captors. The group threatened to kill all four yesterday if its demands for all Iraqi prisoners to be set free from US and Iraqi jails are not met.
The British Foreign Office said there had been no further developments.
An original deadline for their execution was set on Thursday but was later extended to yesterday. Sunni Arab clerics in Baghdad are among those who have asked for the release of the four Christians because of their humanitarian work and condemnation of the US-led war in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the body of Egyptian engineer Ibrahim Sayed Hilali was found, a day after he was seized by gunmen in Tikrit.
PA