Tom Fox (activist)
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Thomas William Fox (1951 – 2006) was an American Quaker peace activist, affiliated with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. He was kidnapped on November 26, 2005 in Baghdad along with three other CPT activists. His body was found on March 9, 2006.
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[edit] Life and career
From Clearbrook, Virginia, Fox was a leader of youth programs at Langley Hill Friends Meeting. Fox served in many positions in Baltimore Yearly Meeting, including a stint as Youth Programs Director, where he devoted much of his time to personally working with teenagers and young adults in the Baltimore Yearly Meeting community; he served as a Friendly Adult Presence, or FAP, during the majority of the BYM Young Friends program's gatherings during the first half of the 2000s and the later 1990s.
He served for 20 years in the United States Marine Band and was an accomplished player of clarinet and recorder. In a public statement his daughter Katherine mentioned that on principle he refused military discounts for which he was eligible.
[edit] Iraq hostage crisis
On November 26, 2005 Fox was taken hostage along with three other members of the CPT team in Iraq. The captors threatened to kill all hostages unless the United States freed all Iraqi prisoners held in the US and Iraq by December 8, 2005. They later extended this deadline to December 10.
On December 10, Katherine Fox issued a statement saying that she and her father believe the Iraqi people have legitimate concerns about the U.S. presence in Iraq, but "these grievances, however, will not be resolved by taking my father's life."
On March 7 al-Jazeera aired a tape which showed the other three hostages, but did not show Fox. Thus far there was no explanation for his absence. Rebecca Johnson of Christian Peacemaker Teams stated that public speculation on the reason for Fox's absence was "unhelpful".
On March 10, the U.S. State Department announced that Fox's body had been found on a garbage heap in Baghdad, shot through the head and chest. According to Iraqi police, his hands were bound and signs of torture were evident. However, conflicting reports from an anonymous Iraqi police official and members of CPT stated that there were no signs of torture. [5] The autopsy report has not been released.
On March 23, the remaining hostages were freed by multinational forces.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ Appeal by Katherine Fox for her father's release, from Christian Peacemaker Teams
- ↑ 'Deadline passes; no word on hostages', CNN, December 10, 2005
- ↑ New hostage tape surfaces, Globe and Mail, March 7, 2006
- ↑ US hostage in Iraq confirmed dead, BBC News, March 11, 2006
- ↑ Peace group hostages freed in Iraq, CNN, March 23, 2006
[edit] External links
- Tom Fox's blog
- David Cook: The Story Of Tom Fox - And Response, opinion column, The Chattanoogan, 9 Dec 2005
- Christian Peacemaker Teams
- Tom Fox Memorial from Christian Peacemaker Teams
- Free The Captives: Petition for the release of Christian Peacemakers being held in Iraq – includes latest news and daily updates
- Links to articles about Tom's capture
- "Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostage Rescue in Iraq on March 23, 2006": Open source media analysis of rescue operation, MILNEWS.ca - Military News for Canadians, 18 Nov 06 (113KB .pdf).
