Families plead for hostages' release

The four humanitarian workers have been missing since being seized last month.

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(CNN) -- The families of the Christian humanitarian workers taken hostage in Iraq last month have issued a statement urging the captors to free the men.

American Tom Fox, Briton Norman Kember, and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Sooden -- all working for the Christian Peacemaker Teams organization -- were kidnapped on November 26.

"A month has passed since our loved ones -- Norman, James, Harmeet and Tom -- were kidnapped in Iraq," read the statement, posted Friday on the British Foreign Office Web site.

"Many clerics and religious figures from the Arab and Muslim world have spoken over the past weeks of the good work they were doing in Iraq and what their organization has done in Palestine, and they have called for their release.

"We appeal to you to help us ensure the safe return of our relatives."

The message included a phone number and e-mail address for anyone with information.

In another hostage development, a video on a Web site Thursday showed five Sudanese hostages, including a diplomat.

Several Sudanese nationals were kidnapped last Friday in Baghdad.

Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the abduction, according to the video.

The message on the video urged the African country to end its relationship with the Iraqi government in 48 hours.

The message could not be independently verified.

Sudan, an African nation ravaged by civil war, has diplomatic relations with the new Iraqi government, although the Sudanese government did not support or participate in the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

In May of this year, the Sudanese government issued a statement welcoming the new Iraqi government and offering "its full support," adding that it looked forward "to eventual cooperation between the two countries" to achieve mutual interests.

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