Free the Captives: Witness Against Illegal Detention and Torture

There was no news on Monday January 30, 2006 (as of 10:30 PM Eastern US time) of Tom Fox and the other CPT peacworkers held captive in Iraq.

Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Jill Carroll, the captive US journalist who appeared in a newly-released video, veiled and weeping, pleading for her life. To her captors we say, Release her! And to the captors of the CPT workers, we say, Release them also! No cause, no religion will be served by harming or continuing to hold them.

from Reuters: Sectarian tensions on the rise

Five simultaneous bomb attacks on 29 January that appeared to target churches and the Vatican embassy have raised concerns among Iraqi Christians about rising sectarian tensions.

In the wake of the bombs which exploded outside two churches in Kirkuk, two in the capital Baghdad, as well as the Vatican embassy, killing 16 and injuring 20, Christian families are reportedly leaving the country in fear of more violence. [...]

"They can't target the Americans, so they target us for having the same religion, even if we're fellow Arabs. ... The government should do something to protect us," Kardush added.

Military and civilian deaths in Iraq

A British soldier was killed by gunfire in Maysan province in southern Iraq on Monday, the Ministry of Defence said in London.

The U.S. military said that a soldier was killed on Saturday when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. The following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, in line with the most recent information from the U.S. military:

U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES:
United States 2,242 Britain 99 Other nations 94

IRAQIS: MILITARY Between 4,895 and 6,370#

CIVILIANS Between 28,224 and 31,826* [Other plausible estimates put the civilian toll at above 100,000.]