I am here in Baghdad as a representative of the Canadian Islamic Congress and other Muslim organizations all across Canada.

The most important thing in my mind is to make it clear to the people on the ground there that we as Canadian Muslims and as a Canadian society really believe that the CPT workers are working for justice and goodwill. I can attest to their goodwill and intentions.

The most important thing in my mind is to add one more voice clearly that will be heard in Iraq on the ground there. We don't know how much the statements issued here reach the ground there.

We hope that they would be released as soon as possible because Christmas is approaching and I hope that they will be with their families by then. We hope that this regrettable story will have a happy end.

Nobody yet has had any contact with the kidnappers.

I would suggest that we have excellent sports organizations that have now started to take the Canada Games as a very important part of the training process. But it comes down to the athletes. Nothing more.