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U.S. Hostage Killed in Iraq

The State Department says an American who was among four Christian activists kidnapped last year in Iraq has been killed. The FBI verified that a body found in Iraq Friday morning was that of Tom Fox. Fox and Canadians James Loney, Harmeet Sooden, along with Briton Norman Kember were kidnapped in Baghdad at gunpoint on November 26th.

Earlier this week, Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape on Tuesday showing three of four peace activists. Mr. Fox did not appear in the video, raising questions of his safety and whereabouts. The tape aired Tuesday showed three men ? one with white hair and a slight beard, the others with dark hair and full beards ? sitting in chairs and speaking, although there was no sound.

The kidnappers provided no new deadline for their demands to be met. Still, the Christian Peacemaker Teams said it was good to see the three on the tape, but took Fox`s absence as a bad sign. Before their abduction, the four activists had been warned by security officials that they were taking risks by moving about Baghdad without security guards.