Still without word on the fate of four Christian aid workers being held in Iraq, the men's family members planned to plead for their release Monday with a broadcast on Iraqi radio.

The radio appeal follows ads in Iraqi newspapers calling for their release and comes nearly a month after the men were taken.

The ads said that Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, Briton Norman Kember and American Tom Fox are men of peace who want to help Iraq.

All four were members of the Canadian-based Christian Peacemakers Team organization.

The ads also say: "Many clerics and religious figures from the Arab and Muslim world have spoken of the good work the men were doing."

A phone number was offered for anonymous callers to give "any information that can help."

So far, advertising has only produced rumours.

"(We have) had various reports … from someone who knew someone who said they were about to be killed," CPT member and friend Doug Pritchard said.

"Someone else said they heard they were about to be released."

The lack of information has left friends and colleagues in Canada trying to preserve hope with daily vigils.

"This is unusual for it to have gone on sometime without contact," Pritchard said as he lit a candle for his missing friends.

A previously unknown group called The Swords of Righteousness Brigade threatened to kill the men if the United States and Britain did not release all detainees in Iraq.

A flurry of international appeals prompted the kidnappers to extend the execution deadline. But no news has emerged from Iraq after the final date passed two weeks ago.

It is an agonizing wait for James Loney's family in Sault Ste. Marie. They made sure to set a place for him at the Christmas dinner table.

"All of us were hoping for four big Christmas presents under the tree in Baghdad," Pritchard said. "It didn't happen."

The public appeals are not over. Family members and CPT will keep placing ads for the next couple of days, in newspapers, on radio and television.