BAGHDAD, Iraq – Kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a video aired yesterday on a private Kuwaiti TV station, appealing for her supporters to do whatever it takes to win her release “as quickly as possible.”

Ms. Carroll, talking in a calm, composed voice and wearing traditional Arab attire, said the date was February 2, nearly a month after she was seized in Baghdad by armed men who killed her Iraqi translator. She was shown sitting on a chair in front of a wall with a large floral design.

The 28-year-old freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor said she had sent one letter and was sending another to “prove I am with the mujahedeen.”

“I sent you a letter written by my hand, but you wanted more evidence,” she said. “I am here. I am fine. Please just do whatever they want, give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time. Please do it fast. That’s all.”

The 22-second video was carried by a private Kuwaiti channel, Alrai TV, and included audio, unlike two previous videos of Ms. Carroll that were broadcast by Al-Jazeera television. A producer at Al-Jazeera said the station did not receive any letters with the videos it aired.

After yesterday’s broadcast, Ms. Carroll’s family issued a brief statement through the Christian Science Monitor, saying only that “the family is hopeful and grateful to all those working on Jill’s behalf.”

The newspaper also issued a statement:

“We are seeking more information about the letter that Jill refers to in the video. We remain in constant contact with Jill’s family and are still doing everything possible to obtain Jill’s release,” the Monitor’s editor, Richard Bergenheim, said.

The new video was delivered earlier yesterday to Al Rai’s Baghdad office and was aired in its entirety, an editor at the station’s headquarters in Kuwait, Hani al-Srougi, told the Associated Press. It was accompanied by a letter written by Ms. Carroll. The station said it would not disclose the letter’s contents.

The new tape was broadcast after millions of Iraqi Shiites marked their holiest day yesterday with processions, prayers, and self-flagellation as stringent security prevented a repeat of major attacks by Sunni religious extremists on the annual Ashoura commemorations.

American drones flew overhead to help assure the safety of the worshippers.

The ceremonies occurred during heightened sectarian tensions between Shiites and Sunni Arabs, marked by a campaign of reprisal kidnappings and killings.

A Sunni Arab tribal chief, Sheik Rasheed Safi, and four relatives were found dead yesterday in Baghdad, police said. They had disappeared Wednesday after attending a funeral, said relatives, who claimed the five were abducted by Shiite death squads.