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Previous Page British Hostage Norman Kember Freed


Thursday, March 23, 2006
Source: Ananova


British hostage Norman Kember and two colleagues have been freed in Iraq, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.
Special forces released the men during an operation in Baghdad.
The Foreign Office appeared unable to confirm the news, but Mr Straw spoke to the BBC to announce the release and to say he had already spoken to Mr Kember's wife Pat.
Mr Straw said the military operation was a team effort which involved British forces.
Mr Kember, a retired professor, was seized during a peace mission to Baghdad on November 26.
The 74-year-old grandfather, a former medical physicist at a teaching hospital, was taken hostage with three fellow peace campaigners.
Mr Kember, 74, from Pinner, north-west London, was visiting the country with Christian Peacemaker Teams, a Canada-based international peace group.
The other men were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and an American, Tom Fox, 54.
Mr Fox was found shot dead in Baghdad earlier this month in the affluent Mansour district. There were signs that he had been beaten before being killed. The grim news raised the prospect that Mr Kember might meet the same fate.
Peace campaigner Bruce Kent, a friend of Mr Kember who has been involved in weekly vigils for his release since his capture, told Sky News: "This is news beyond belief. In this awful mess of Baghdad thank God there is one bright light anyway."

Another good job by the SAS

Is he an Anti-Bush & Anti-War activist?

No just an anti war nut....while in his mid seventies he thought he could go out there and change the world. Some of the people with him had already been killed.

Maybe now he realizes the fanaticism that grips the mind of the insurgents.

Doubtful. Most peace activists are so committed to their own fanaticism that his ordeal will be chalked up to a reaction that would not have occured were Iraq left unmolested from the get go.

Well, in the end, promoting dialogue and mutual respect lowers the temperature of any conflict. Reducing the tension on the ground makes everyone safer, including coalition forces, and to the extent that peace campaigners are able to achieve that, I think it is right to support them. Of course, one could argue about timing and methods, but if someone wants to put themselves in harms way to take the heat off our troops I say, "go team".

How is forcing coalition forces to commit troops to go and retrieve your less than intelligent self helping the team?

I don't see the connection as dialogue with amatuers accomplishing nothing. They don't have the authority or influence to affect anything so to my way of thinking all they do is muddy the water for the professionals trying to set things right.

These people were victims of a kidnapping and the legal authorities in such situations have a duty to commit resources. If that's inconvenient to the authorities, tough luck: commiting security resources to help the innocent is what we pay the authorities for. I rather think that three years after coalition forces went in, they should have the security situation under control.

As for influence, it's been interesting to note how much support there has been for their efforts in Iraq and in Arab countries. Why should people not have peaceful discussions on their own initiative with different communities if those communities want to talk with them? Leaving that to the "authorities" is an abrogation of personal responsibility.

if him and his friends go back and get kidnapped again I'd leave them there.

Originally Posted by KC72

if him and his friends go back and get kidnapped again I'd leave them there.

Well, they probably have used up their nine lives.