Tom Fox of Clear Brook, Virginia, is seen in this image aired by Al Jazeera TV on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006
U.S. and Iraqi officials say a body found in Iraq has been identified as missing American hostage Tom Fox.
A U.S. State Department spokesman announced the death of the Christian peace activist late Friday.
Iraqi officials say Fox was found with his hands tied and with gunshot wounds. They say there were signs he was beaten before his death.
Fox was one of four Western aid workers from the North American-based group Christian Peacemaker Teams abducted in Iraq last November. Two Canadians and a Briton are still being held.
In another development, the U.S. military in Iraq says coalition forces detained eight suspected insurgents, Saturday. A statement says four men were captured at a Sunni mosque in the violence-plagued Khadhra neighborhood of Baghdad that had been identified as a possible al-Qaida in Iraq safe haven. The other four were detained from other sites raided during the operation.
On the political front, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has summoned the country's new parliament to meet on March 19, saying the impasse in forming a new government could lead to an increase in sectarian violence.
The first meeting of the newly-elected parliament has been delayed because the three main political parties, deeply divided along sectarian and ethnic lines, have failed to agree on a power-sharing formula.
In Washington, President Bush expressed concern Friday about the sectarian violence following the February 22 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra. He said, however, the Iraqi people have taken a "step back" from the unrest.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
Tom Fox, an American who was among four Christian activists kidnapped in Iraq in November last year, has been found dead, according to the U.S. State Department.

FBI spokesman Noel Clay reports that a body found Friday morning was Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Virginia.

According to Iraqi officials, Fox's body had been found with gunshot wounds and his hands tied. Officials also say that he was beaten before his death.

According to Clay, further tests will be done in the United States; the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad is still investigating.  Clay also said that "the State Department continues to call for the unconditional release of all other hostages".

Al-Jazeera aired video footage on Tuesday of the other three hostages, Canadians James Loney, 41, Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Norman Kember, 74, from Great Britain. The three had not been heard from since last year. The recent video release of them was filmed on February 28.