Re: Breaking News: Hostages Freed in Iraq Rescue
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and British troops Thursday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.<br /><br />Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman, said the hostages were being held by a kidnapping cell, and the operation to free the captives was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier.<br /><br />No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into a house in western Baghdad. The captives hands were tied, Lynch said.<br /><br />The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the captives were rescued northwest of Baghdad between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles away from Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles away.<br /><br />British officials in Baghdad said those freed were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox.<br /><br />The body of Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., was found earlier this month.<br /><br />We remember with tears Tom Fox, group co-director Doug Pritchard said. We had longed for the day when all four men would be released together. Our gladness today is bittersweet by the fact that Tom is not alive to join his colleagues in the celebration.<br /><br />Canadians hospitalized<br />In London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Kember was in reasonable condition in Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone. The two Canadians required hospital treatment, but he gave no further details.<br /><br />Straw also gave few details of the operation, saying only that it followed weeks and weeks of planning.<br /><br />British Prime Minister Tony Blairs office said he was delighted by the trios release.<br /><br />He is particularly pleased for those released and their families. He congratulates everyone involved in the operation to rescue the hostages, his office said in a statement.<br /><br />Loneys brother, Ed, told CBC television that his mother had spoken with James on the phone and he sounded fantastic.<br /><br />Hes alert and he was asking how we were doing and said he was sorry for the whole situation, Ed Loney said. My mom said, Dont worry about it just get home and well talk about all that stuff when you get here.<br /><br />The kidnapped men were shown as prisoners in several videos, the most recent a silent clip dated Feb. 28 in which Loney, Kember and Sooden appeared without Fox. Foxs body was found March 10 near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest.<br /><br />The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.<br /><br />In Foxs hometown, his friends learned of the rescues on the television.<br /><br />I think theres a bittersweet element to this in that yes, our friend Tom isnt coming home, said Anne Bacon, clerk of the Hopewell Centre Quaker meeting where Fox volunteered. But we know Tom is with us and that Tom is overjoyed that these men will be reunited with their families.<br /><br />Group wants U.S. forces to leave<br />The Christian Peacemaker Teams said the activists went to Iraq motivated by a passion for justice and peace. Group volunteers have been in Iraq since October 2002, investigating allegations of abuse against Iraqi detainees by coalition forces. Its teams promote peaceful solutions in conflict zones.<br /><br />They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers, Pritchard said.<br /><br />He also called for coalition forces to leave the country.<br /><br />We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq, Pritchard said.<br /><br />Reporter still missing<br />Other Americans taken hostage in Iraq and killed in addition to Fox were Ronald Schulz, 40, an industrial electrician from Anchorage, Alaska; Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Ga.; Eugene Jack Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Mich.; and Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Pa.<br /><br />Still missing is Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad. She has appeared in three videotapes delivered by her kidnappers to Arab satellite television stations.<br /><br />The last hostage to be freed in a military operation was Douglas Wood, an Australian rescued in west Baghdad by U.S. and Iraqi forces on June 15 after 47 days in captivity.
