WP: Va. Muslims and Quakers Pray Together for Safety of Hostage

Va. Muslims and Quakers Pray Together for Safety of Hostage
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 10, 2005; Page B01


As the deadline for hostage Tom Fox's execution approached in Iraq, Muslims and Quakers gathered at a Sterling mosque yesterday afternoon to pray together for his safe return and that of three other Western peace activists kidnapped in Baghdad two weeks ago.

A group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade has declared that the four hostages will die today if the United States and Britain do not release Iraqi prisoners.

Out in the corridor of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society Center, it was impossible to distinguish Muslim from Christian among the shoes stacked on the shelves. Inside the main hall, the same was true among the 50 or so worshipers who gathered at the center in eastern Loudoun County to send what they said was a message of peace and unity around the globe.

Organizers translated a message from Fox's blog, http://waitinginthelight.blogspot.com , into Arabic and sent it to al-Jazeera television, which they hoped would broadcast it in the Middle East. They also invited representatives of other Arab media to the vigil. Organizers included members of the ADAMS Center and the Langley Hill Friends Meeting in McLean, where Fox is a member....

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The ADAMS Center and the Langley Hill Friends Meeting have a history dating to September 2001, when the terrorist attacks prompted vandals to deface the center. Members of the Langley Hill congregation have subsequently held 24-hour prayer services at the center on the anniversaries of the attacks to help protect the mosque....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/09/AR2005120902003.html