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Norman Kember


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Superb news !

 

 

British Iraq hostage Kember freed

 

 

One British and two Canadian peace activists held hostage in Iraq for almost four months have been freed in an operation by multinational forces.

 

Norman Kember, 74, of north-west London, James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, were three of four men seized in Baghdad in November.

 

Mr Kember is said to be in a "reasonable condition" while the two Canadians were taken to hospital.

 

The body of murdered US citizen Tom Fox was found in Baghdad two weeks ago.

 

Ordeal ended

 

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he had spoken to Mr Kember's wife Pat and that she was "absolutely delighted, elated with this news".

 

"I'm delighted that now we have a happy ending to this terrible ordeal for Norman Kember, for his family, for the Canadian hostages and for their families as well," he said.

 

Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was delighted by the news, and particularly pleased for the freed men and their families.

 

He also congratulated everyone involved in the rescue operation. Mr Straw said British forces had taken part.

 

The foreign secretary said the rescue followed "weeks and weeks of very careful work by military and coalition personnel in Iraq and many civilians as well".

 

He added: "There's one last very sad point, which is that there were four hostages captured originally, including one, an American, Mr Fox, and it's a matter of great sorrow to everybody that he was killed a little while ago."

 

The 54-year-old was found shot dead on 9 March in the Mansour district of the Iraqi capital.

 

Threats

 

The men were carrying out work in Iraq as part of peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams.

 

They were abducted on 26 November by a previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of Truth Brigade.

 

The group had issued threats to kill the men if the US and Iraqi authorities did not meet their demand of releasing all Iraqi prisoners.

 

Muslim anti-war campaigners in the UK sent Iraqi-born Anas Altrikiti to Iraq to plead for the release of Mr Kember and the other hostages.

 

Ihtisham Hibatullah, a spokesman for Mr Tikriti at the Muslim Association of Britain, said on Thursday they were "very relieved" that Mr Kember and his colleagues were alive, and that it was fantastic news for their families.

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That's brilliant, brilliant news! The longer this went on, the more it looked like it would never happen. My thoughts are with his wife who must be happier and more relieved than anyone can imagine.

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Wonder how a peace activist feels about being busted out in a millitary operation?

109556[/snapback]

 

:lol:

 

I was wondering earlier how the family of the American guy must feel.

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Wonder how a peace activist feels about being busted out in a millitary operation?

109556[/snapback]

 

 

........ :lol:

 

If he was stupid enough to go in the first place, he's probably too stupid to realise the irony

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