Christian Captives Shown in Footage

A wave of deadly attacks against Iraqi civic and professional leaders continued Saturday while kidnappers renewed their threat to kill four Christian human rights activists unless all Iraqi prisoners are released.

Abdul Razzaq Naas, a university communications professor and TV political analyst, was shot to death as he drove in his car in central Baghdad. Police sources said he had been threatened by various Shiite militias upset by his views.

Many professionals and opinion leaders here have been slain in recent weeks, including at least a dozen doctors, for unknown reasons.

A video of the four hostages, dated Jan. 21, was shown Saturday on Al Jazeera TV. The newscaster identified the abductors as the Swords of Righteousness Brigades and said they were offering U.S. and Iraqi governments a “last chance” to save the lives of the hostages.

The group is demanding the release of about 14,000 Iraqis thought to be in U.S. custody and as many as 7,000 in Iraqi-run jails. The four hostages are members of the Canada-based Christian Peacemaker Teams, a human rights group. They were looking into allegations of Iraqi prisoner abuse when they were kidnapped Nov. 26.

Among them is an American, Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va. Also being held are Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; and a Briton, Norman Kember, 74.

Christian Peacemaker Teams issued a statement Saturday saying it would hold a vigil today at “institutions that bear responsibility for the war” including the U.S. Consulate in Toronto and, in the United States, at the Veterans Administration, CIA headquarters and the White House. The purpose is to call for an “end to the military occupation of Iraq,” the statement said.

About 250 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the war started in March 2005, and dozens of them have been killed.

At least five foreigners have been kidnapped this month, including U.S. reporter Jill Carroll, 28, who was taken captive Jan. 7 while on assignment for the Christian Science Monitor.

Carroll’s abductors subsequently issued a demand for the release of all nine female Iraqi prisoners in U.S. custody. The U.S. set free five women and 419 men Thursday, but there has been no word since on Carroll’s fate. U.S. authorities said the releases had nothing to do with the captors’ demands.

Last week, two German engineers were abducted near the Baiji refining complex north of Baghdad and two Kenyans helping to set up a mobile telephone network were seized in Baghdad. Footage of the Germans was aired Friday on Al Jazeera. There has been no news of the Africans.

On Saturday, the military command announced that two U.S. soldiers were killed in roadside bombings in Baghdad and a Marine died in a noncombat accident Friday near Fallouja.

In Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, a bomb planted in front of a shop killed at least 10 people Friday night.

Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein’s trial is set to resume today under a new chief judge, Said Hammashi. He replaces Rizgar Mohammed Amin.