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March 23, 2006
Iraq: Hostages Rescued From Islamist Captors
Perhaps the only cheering news coming out of Iraq at present is that it has just been announced that the surviving members of the four-man "Peace" team (pictured), who were abducted on November 26 have now been freed after a military operation to rescue them was successful.
The news is carried by Sky News and the Guardian. The four men, acting under the aegis of the US-based Christian Peacemaker Teams organisation, had originally been snatched by a thitherto unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness.
The men were: James Loney, 41, of Toronto, Canada, Tom Fox, 54, of Clearbrook, Virginia, US, Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, of Canada and Norman Kember, 74, of Britain.
Tom Fox, the only American in the team, had been discovered shot dead on March 9. Mr Fox's body, dumped in the Mansour district of Baghdad, showed signs that he had been beaten.
Mr Fox's murder increased fears for the remaining three, in particular Norman Kember (pictured below at a "peace rally"), as he was elderly and frail.
The two Canadians needed hospital treatment upon their liberation, and Norman Kember is in a "reasonable condition" and is currently in Iraq's Green Zone. Pat Kember, his wife, naturally said from her home in Pinner in north London that she was "delighted". She is with police officers at home.
Britain's po-faced foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said that multi-national forces had stormed the house in the town of Mishahda, north of Baghdad, where the men were held captive. He said that he too was "delighted that now we have a happy ending." Tony Blair also chirped in to say that he was "delighted" too.
In a bizarre and unprecedented move, a man associated with Al Qaeda and currently imprisoned in Britain had made a televised appeal to the hostage-takers in December. Abu Qatada appeared on al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya pleading for the hostages' release from his jail at Full Sutton in the north of England, but his request was ignored.
There is no news so far of what has become of the hostage-takers. Jack Straw said that "no-one was hurt" in the rescue operation, and Sky News stated that British officials will be questioning the freed men to ascertain information on the identity of their captors. It appears that the "brave" murderers ran away, and were too cowardly to stay and fight.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 23, 2006 7:10 AM
Comments
Two important points:
1. The familes thanked the kidnappers for the "safe release" of the men. No thanks went to the American military or the Iraqi military. Praise was given by the families of the three 'rescued' hostages to the brave people who had been 'invaded and occupied' by, guess who, the coalition (meaning America).
2. The American is the one who was tortured and eventually murdered and thrown away like trash. The others were in apparently good condition for being held for so long. I wonder why?
Something smells strange in this entire event. The kidnappers 'ran away rather than fight'? I believe that I read or heard there were no kidnappers there, that the men were not guarded....
Posted by: Deborah Hamilton ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.westernresistance.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 23, 2006 2:33 PM
My thoughts on hearing this story are as follows:-
1) I see the brave 'Mujihadeen Warriors' ran away and were not around when the UK/US troops arrived. Obviously they cant face REAL Soldiers only old men,women and children.
2) Why didn't the 'Peace Activists' refused to be rescued by these 'Imperialist Invaders' that they were in Iraq to oppose. They were with the 'Peace loving ,tolerant Mohammedans' they went their to support. What can possibly have been the problem?
Posted by: Realist at March 24, 2006 12:13 AM
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