MEDSUMREP 2006-01.

5
December 10, 2006

MILNEWS.CA
MEDIA SUMMARY REPORT

Christian Peacemaker Teams

Hostage Rescue in Iraq
on March 23, 2006

Tony Prudori, Editor

MILNEWS - Military News for Canadians
tony@milnews.ca

All material contained in this report is taken or paraphrased from open sources.
Direct quotes are not footnoted only to ease reading, but all material consulted is
included in the Bibliography. MILNEWS.ca is not responsible for the accuracy of
the base data or the reporters’ interpretation of events. All media material
presented in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the
Copyright Act, http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409 This report may
be updated as events warrant.

Background

The Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) web page says it is an organization offering,
“an organized, nonviolent alternative to war ... (and) organizational support to persons
committed to faith-based nonviolent alternatives in situations where lethal conflict is an
immediate reality or is supported by public policy.” CPT members currently have
observers in conflict areas around the world, including the Palestinian Territories,
Colombia, Burundi and eastern Congo. CPT began sending observers to Iraq in
October 2002, six months before the beginning of the U.S. led invasion in March of
2003. The focus focus of that CPT team, for the 18 months following the invasion, was
documenting and highlighting human rights and detainee abuse issues.

On November 26, 2005, CPT members James Loney, 41, Harmeet Sooden, 32 (both
Canadians), Norman Kember of Britain, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54, were
kidnapped from a Baghdad street while leaving a mosque.

The group was seized by an organization calling itself the “Swords of Righteousness
Brigades”. British military intelligence reportedly identified them as members of a
Sunni insurgency group. One media report said Loney, in a phone conversation with a
friend, described the kidnappers as “a criminal gang.” In a debriefing following the
rescue, Kember reportedly confirmed that his captors were criminals, rather than
insurgents. Speaking at a news conference after his release, Sooden is quoted saying
he thought it was, “a Sunni group with a religious attachment that was politically
motivated." Sooden was later quoted in other accounts saying he believed his captors
were simply after ransom to fund the insurgency, adding he didn’t believe they were
linked to al Qaeda.

On November 29, CPT blamed the Coalition mission in Iraq for the kidnaping.

One account compiled after the release of the hostages said on February 12, “the
kidnappers again told the (hostages) their freedom was near and ordered Fox to gather
his few belongings. They would all be taken back to the first house one at a time, and
then released near the mosque in western Baghdad where they had been abducted.
Fox was to be moved first, followed by Kember, Loney and Sooden. After Fox was
moved, no one came for the others. On 5 March, (one of the captors) made a video of
the remaining hostages and delivered some unsettling news. (On March 7, 2006,
Al-Jazeera broadcast a new videotape showing three hostages apparently calling on
their governments to help them. Fox is not visible in this video.) Negotiations for their
freedom were almost over, but to apply pressure, the kidnappers would announce that
Fox had been killed. In reality, (the captor) assured them, Fox would still be alive and
would be released with the rest.

On or about March 10, 2005, Fox's body was found on a Baghdad street. After the
killing, the other hostages were reportedly, “shown an Arabic-language news
broadcast. They saw what appeared to be a story about them, with the camera
lingering on an image of Fox before cutting to a shot of an empty road. When Sooden
asked what they were seeing, the kidnappers told them it was simply a profile of Fox
and not to worry. But no one was convinced. “We had a very strong sense that he had
been killed,” Loney said.” This report indicated that the group didn’t know until they
were rescued that Fox had been killed.

The Hunt

At the time of the CPT kidnaping, Britain had already been working for some time on
collecting intelligence on hostages, as well as Iraqi war criminals. An intelligence
network was reportedly launched after the deaths of British kidnap victims Ken Bigley
and Margaret Hassan in 2005.

Task Force Black (TF Black), reportedly led by “a senior SAS officer”, was said to be
made up of a combined team of about 250 American, British and Australian special
forces, supported up by intelligence personnel, based near the British Embassy in
Baghdad’s Green Zone. One media report indicated the SAS assault element was on a
constant 30-minutes-to-move alert status.

Media reports indicated other experts involved included negotiators from Scotland
Yard, operators from the British Special Reconnaissance Regiment, signals intelligence
experts from the British General Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), as well as
agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations and Britain’s Special Intelligence
Service (MI6) trying to make contact with intermediaries who could put them in direct
touch with the kidnappers. Once the team determined a ransom note was unlikely to
emerge, suggesting a politically motivated kidnaping rather than one seeking cash,
planning for a military rescue mission reportedly began. British Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw reportedly met with the team on two occasion while visiting Iraq.

In December 2005, Canada’s then-Prime Minister Paul Martin committed, “all federal
government resources to secure the release of hostages”. Canadian Press reported
that the government approved Canada's participation in the mission in the middle of the
winter federal election campaign.

Ottawa reportedly sent a team to Baghdad in early December 2005, presumably to

work with TF Black. The Canadian team reportedly consisted of Canadian soldiers,
diplomats, members (referred to in one media report as “kidnap experts”) of the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and Canadian Security and Intelligence Service
(CSIS) intelligence officers. Some media reports indicated some level of participation
by Canada’s signals intelligence agency, the Communications Security Establishment
(CSE), but no reports indicate whether CSE staff went to Iraq. Speaking at a Canadian
Association for Security and Intelligence Studies conference in October 2006, CSIS
director, Jim Judd, confirmed that CSIS agents, “were .... in Iraq to help rescue hostage
James Loney in March from his Iraqi captors.” The Canadian team reportedly remained
in Baghdad through Christmas, and into 2006. After the rescue, Prime Minister
Stephen Harper was quoted saying that any Canadians involved in the hostage rescue
left Iraq after the hostages were freed.

Various media reports indicated Canada’s Joint Task Force Two (JTF-2) special forces
troops were part of TF Black. One British report mentioned an assault force consisting
of, “250 special forces soldiers from the SAS and (...) Canadian Joint Task Force 2.”
Canadian Press quoted an unnamed source saying JTF-2 was "instrumental" in the
rescue operation. A British media report indicated “special forces from the US and
Canada... spent months trying to locate (the hostages).” Another report mentioned
troops, “led by the SAS (including) American and Canadian special forces entered the
building at dawn.” The Ottawa Citizen reported that, “Pentagon and British military
officials said Canadian and special forces took the reins of the ground operation.” For
operational security reasons, Canadian officials and politicians have not confirmed on
the record the detailed extent JTF-2's participation in either the planning or execution
of the rescue operation. Prime Minster Harper would only tell reporters that JTF-2 was,
“fully engaged and fully aware of what was going on.”
Intelligence gathering mentioned in open media reports included:
• follow-up of “tip-offs from paid informants, community leaders and Iraqi police”;
• radio and cell phone intercepts, including interception of phone conversations
between kidnappers and Arab television journalists, as well as “conversations
(monitored) within houses”;
• surveillance of various areas; and
• examination of satellite photographs.

At the same time, one report briefly mentioned that, “a parallel propaganda strategy,
employing radical Muslims in an appeal to the gang not to kill peacemakers in the
name of Islam, (also) took shape.” For example, the Association of Muslim Scholars
wants American troops to withdraw from Iraq. While supporting armed resistance
against US soldiers, the Iraqi group also strongly condemns beheadings, taking
hostages and the killing of civilians. On November 30, 2005, the Association called for
the release of the CPT hostages.

While intelligence was being collected, media reports mention rescue rehearsals, with
assaulters reportedly practicing various scenarios on mock-ups (including hostages
held in a basement and children co-located in building). One media report on March 24
quoted “a senior Iraqi military officer” speaking to the Associated Press saying that the
rescue operation had been under way in the Abu Ghraib suburb west of Baghdad for
“several days” prior to the actual operation. Given the short time between receiving of
key intelligence and execution of the raid, this activity could have been assault forces
rehearsing.

An Intelligence Break

Two main storylines dominated media coverage of the intelligence break that led to the
rescue.

While initial reports said Fox had been executed, evidence suggested he was shot
while trying to escape. Fox was reportedly shot in the arm and chest. Bruising on
Fox’s body originally thought to be signs of torture were later interpreted as signs of a
struggle. Also, unlike previous hostage assassinations in Iraq, Fox killing was not
videotaped, and he was not shot in the head. CPT issued a statement on this issue on
March 24:

“CPT urges that the media and everyone concerned refrain from repeating the
rumour that Tom Fox was tortured.. Two CPTers, Rev. Carol Rose and Rich
Meyer, viewed Tom's body and did not see signs of torture. We also have
reports from two additional independent sources who examined the body more
thoroughly. They also did not find evidence of torture.”

One report indicated the hostages were promised by their captors in mid-February that
they would be released one at a time. At that point, when Fox was taken away, and
didn’t return, Kember reportedly thought he himself would be released the next day.

In one scenario, Fox’s shooting was seen as a sign that the kidnappers were losing
control of the situation. On March 22, a young Iraqi man was reportedly detained by
Coalition forces while setting up an improvised explosive device (IED) on a roadside
after several days of surveillance. The detainee was reportedly one of the leaders of
the kidnaping gang. Questioning reportedly revealed a split in the gang: some wanted
to continue for political reasons, while others wanted to continue as a revenue
generating activity. When the detainee was told he could spend up to 30 years in jail,
he provided Coalition forces with details of where the hostages were held, including
diagrams of the house where the hostages were held and nearby streets.

In the alternative scenario, a group of two men were detained on March 22, and one of
those provided information to Coalition forces about the whereabouts of the hostages.
Other reports indicated that the gang member who provided the key intelligence to
Coalition forces was allowed one phone call, which he used to tell the captors that a
military raid was being considered. Some reports indicated that after the assaulters
found no other captors being in the house, Coalition forces released the detainee who
provided the key intelligence.

TF Black reportedly narrowed down the likely location of the hostages to “the scruffy
suburbs of western Baghdad around al-Hurriyah, a stronghold of mainly Sunni
insurgents and criminal gangs responsible for dozens of abductions of Iraqis.”

Two Minutes: The Raid

The most detailed accounts of the rescue operation in the mainstream media were
written by Nick Meo, Michael Evans, Daniel McGrory and Tom Baldwin in the Times of
London (March 24, 2006), by Oliver Poole in the Telegraph (March 24, 2006), by
Torcuil Crichton of the Sunday Herald (March 26, 2006), and by Robert Rhodes of the
Mennonite Weekly Review (April 28, 2006) . Most of this information contained in this
section comes from these articles (links are available in the Bibliography, where these
references are highlighted in bold print).

Media reports estimated the rescue force to be comprised of the following elements:
• approximately 250 TF Black members, with approximately 50 special forces
members, including British, Canadian, American and Australian operators,
taking part in the direct assault of the building;
• approximately 100 members of Task Force (TF) Maroon, a “Special Forces
Support Group” consisting of members of the Royal Marines and the First
Battalion, Royal Parachute Regiment; and
• approximately 15 helicopter crew members.
One media report indicated as few as 25 troops took part in the house assault. Some
reports suggested the Marines and Paras also took part in the direct assault, while
others reported that TF Maroon was supporting the assault force. Other reports
mentioned American troops providing “an outer perimeter,” or troops setting up, “a
cordon several streets away from the target so that innocent civilians did not blunder
into an operation that might end in a shoot-out.”

Media were consistent in a reporting a short time frame between receiving of the key tip
and the hostage rescue. Some reports indicated three hours elapsed between int
receipt and raid, while others were not as specific. One report said the TF Black
commander briefed the assault team at 0300 local/0000 UTC on March 22. While most
media reports said the raid started at first light, at least one said it started at 0800
local/0500 UTC. According to “sun and shadow position specialists” R. Bouwmeester &
Associates (http://www.sunposition.com/baghdad/BARS.html ), sunset occurred in
Baghdad on Wednesday, March 22 at 1815 local/1515 UTC, with sunrise on Thursday,
March 23 at 0602 local/0302 UTC.

In immediate lead-up to the raid, media reports indicated aerial surveillance (from
helicopters, satellites and Predator UAVs) were almost certainly in place, as well as on-
the-ground surveillance of the target by Iraqi or disguised British agents, providing
minute-by-minute intelligence to the Task Force Black commander. The media reports
agreed in reporting that the assault element was inserted by helicopter to a nearby
assembly area, after which cars disguised as cabs, unmarked cars, and pick-up trucks
were used for the final approach to the target. Media descriptions of the raid illustrate
the characteristics of such dynamic entries - swift (one media report said the raid took
two minutes from start to finish), sudden, overwhelming, with simultaneous entry at
multiple points of the building.

The assault team found the three hostages on the main floor, with their hands bound,
and bound to each other. Some reports refer to handcuffs, while one hostage
mentioned a chain cut with a bolt cutter. One report compiled shortly after the rescue
said the hostages had been left handcuffed individually, their hands in front of them.
That report said the four hostages were “bound to one another in a row of chairs”

One report indicated that there were four men (reportedly former Iraqi army soldiers)
guarding the hostages during their captivity - three who rotated shifts, and, “another
who was in charge, but seemed to take orders from unseen superiors.” There was no
sign of the captors or anyone else being in the building. Media reports describe
various reasons why the hostages were found alone in the house. Some indicated their
captors got scared and left after all signs pointed to one of their number being detained
by the Coalition. In one report, an “intelligence source” was quoted saying, “We
assumed that they had buggered off out the back when they heard the soldiers were
coming.”

Loney is quoted in one account saying, “the door came crashing in and gentlemen with
British accents basically unshackled (Kember) and escorted him out.” The assault
team then withdrew, and the hostages were taken to the British Embassy in the Green
Zone (reports conflict as to whether they were driven or flown by helicopter). Members
of TF Maroon then reportedly searched the house for evidence of where the captors
went, as well as where other hostages might be located. The hostages were reportedly
debriefed by intelligence officials, treated for injuries, given a phone call home, and
were allowed to wash, eat and rest.

Another account written the month after the rescue said:

“The next sound they heard was the rapid thud of boots on pavement and a
voice with a British accent shouting, “Open the door!” The front door was
smashed and a burst of shots fired. The kidnappers were not there. The
commandos from the British Special Air Service (SAS) then started inching their
way up the stairs, calling, “Mr Kember, are you there?” When the hostages
responded, they were told to shut their door and wait. Suddenly, the commandos
burst into the room, “bristling with weapons and body armour,” Loney recalled.
Wielding a bolt cutter, one of the soldiers freed the three and assured them they
were safe. The hostages quickly asked about Fox, and before whisking them to
an armoured personnel carrier outside, one of the soldiers told them, “Mr. Fox
was killed.” “

British Foreign Office officials have been quoted saying the operation would have cost
several million pounds to sustain across four months. Other reports indicated “tens of
thousands of pounds” were spent on helicopter and military transport aircraft flights.

Hostage Debrief

Typical practice following hostage rescues includes questioning of hostages for any
intelligence that might be of help to track down kidnappers, glean new information on
hostages still being held, or avert future kidnapings.

Following the rescue, unspecified intelligence officials reportedly spoke to the freed
hostages. Media reports indicated that Kember responded to questions with
information about, “the semi-rural area north-west of Baghdad where he was held, and
confirmed that his captors were criminals, rather than insurgents. Their motive was
believed to be money.”

On the other hand, a “security source” is quoted in one report saying, “the ... activists
freed by an SAS-led coalition force ... refused to co-operate fully with an intelligence
unit sent to debrief them.” Sooden and Loney were reportedly co-operative at first, but
less so on arriving at the British embassy in Baghdad after being given the opportunity
to wash, eat and rest.

Some reports indicated the hostages, although bound before the rescue operation,
were generally well treated in captivity in the 10 x 10 foot (3.05 x 3.05 metre) room.
The hostages were reportedly:
• given journals,
• allowed to take some exercise,
• given limited access to television
• in the case of Kember, provided medication as required for high blood pressure
and “an aneurysm”; and
• provided with a Christmas cake.

Sooden was quoted in media accounts shortly after his release saying the group had a
“reasonable connection with their captors .... (with) .... moments (where) we would joke
around, but always in the forefront of my mind was survival."

On the other hand, speaking in Kenora in November 2006, Loney is quoted saying, “I
was always, always, always hungry. Just aching with hunger.” Another account
referred to, “only occasional bathroom or exercise breaks.”

“Thanks”, and no Thanks

In the initial statement issued by CPT on March 23 following the rescue, the only
reference to Coalition forces was negative, not even mentioning the military’s role in
the rescue:

“We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root
cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnaping and so much pain and
suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.”

That evening, CPT added an addendum to the original statement:

“We are grateful to the soldiers who risked their lives to free Jim, Norman and
Harmeet. As peacemakers who hold firm to our commitment to nonviolence, we
are also deeply grateful that they fired no shots to free our colleagues. We are
thankful to all the people who gave of themselves sacrificially to free Jim,
Norman, Harmeet and Tom over the last four months...”

On March 24 and 25, British Chief of the General Staff General Sir Mike Jackson was
quoted in media reports saying, "I am slightly saddened that there does not seem to
have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives."
When asked if he meant that Kember had not thanked his rescuers, General Jackson is
quoted saying. "I hope he has and I have missed it."

Speaking to reporters from a prepared statement on March 25 at London’s Heathrow

Airport, Kember is quoted saying, "I do not believe that a lasting peace is achieved by
armed force, but I pay tribute to their courage and thank those who played a part in my
rescue."

On March 26, speaking to reporters at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, Loney was quoted
saying, "To the British soldiers who risked their lives to rescue us, to the Government of
Canada who sent a team to Baghdad to help secure our release ... I am forever and
truly grateful. A great hand of solidarity reached out for us, a hand that included ... the
hands of the British soldier who cut our chains with a bolt cutter. That great hand was
able to deliver three of us from the shadow of death.”

At a March 31 news conference in New Zealand, Sooden is quoted saying that he

thinks a ransom was paid for the release of the CPT hostages. He added that he had
“no firm evidence” a ransom had been paid. New Zealand officials are quoted saying
they knew of no ransom, adding New Zealand and Canadian policy does not allow
payment of ransoms. Unidentified sources in earlier media reports were quoted saying
no deals were made because, “the kidnappers knew Britain's public refusal to pay
meant they would view any approach as a potential ruse and this would put the
hostages' lives in danger.”

Speaking at the University of Guelph about his experiences on November 10, 2006,
Loney is quoted saying "They (military forces) believe in what they're doing, and more
than that, they're risking their lives. . . . That is an amazing gift .... And that's what we
are trying to remember and think about on Nov. 11 .... But having said that, I still can't
wear a poppy (for Remembrance Day)."

Captors Captured

In early November 2006, media accounts quoted Kember saying Scotland Yard had
notified him that those thought responsible for the kidnaping had been captured by Iraqi
police. Other accounts indicated Loney and Sooden (now living in New Zealand) were
also contacted by their national police forces.

When asked to testify against his alleged captors at a trial tentatively scheduled for
early 2007, Kember was originally quoted saying, "If I knew they were either going to
be executed or they were going to have very long prison sentences .... I wouldn't think
that would be justified .... Unless I could be persuaded that by giving a testimony, and
asking for clemency, and that that would help, then I wouldn't be prepared to testify," he
said. In early media accounts, Kember said he and the other two surviving hostages
feel the same way about testifying.

On December 8, 2006, the three former hostages held a news conference on the
anniversary of captors’ threats to execute the hostages. The three issued a joint
statement (full text in Appendix 3) saying they, “unconditionally forgive our captors for
abducting and holding us. We have no desire to punish them,” calling for, “all possible
leniency” if the suspects were convicted. The joint statement also said, “the
catastrophic levels of violence and the lack of effective protection of human rights in
Iraq is inextricably linked to the US-led invasion and occupation.”

Copyright (c) 2006, Tony Prudori, all rights reserved.

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Appendix 1: “Chronology of the kidnaping of the four peace activists in Iraq”

(Source: http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/060326/n032647A.html )

“TORONTO (Canadian Press) - A chronology of the kidnaping of four peace activists in

Iraq, two of them Canadian:
• October 2002: Christian Peacemaker Teams sets up in Iraq six months before
the U.S.-led invasion.
• Nov. 26, 2005: Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Sooden, 32, and
Briton Norman Kember, 74, and American Tom Fox, 54, are kidnapped in
Baghdad by a group calling itself Swords of Righteousness Brigades.
• Nov. 29: Christian Peacemaker Teams blames the kidnapings on the U.S. and
British invasion and occupation of Iraq. The four hostages are shown on
videotape broadcast by the Al-Jazeera news network.
• Nov. 30: The influential Association of Muslim Scholars calls for hostages'
release.
• Dec. 1: Families and friends of hostages plead for their release.
• Dec. 2: Al-Jazeera broadcasts a second video in which kidnappers threaten to
execute the four hostages unless all Iraqi prisoners in U.S.-and Iraqi-run
detention centres are released by Dec. 8. Prime Minister Paul Martin promises
all federal government resources to secure the release of hostages. Deadline
subsequently extended to Dec. 10.
• Jan. 28, 2006: Al-Jazeera broadcasts videotape showing four activists with
warning of "last chance" for authorities to release Iraqi prisoners.
• March 7: Al-Jazeera broadcasts new videotape showing three activists
apparently calling on their governments to help them. Fox is not seen in the
video.
• March 10: Fox's body is found in Baghdad.
• March 23: The three remaining hostages - Loney, Sooden and Kember - are
freed by a military operation conducted by multinational forces in a town north of
Baghdad.
• March 25: A (Canadian Forces) C-130 Hercules transport plane takes Loney and
Sooden from Baghdad to the United Arab Emirates. Briton Norman Kember
reunites with his family at London's Heathrow Airport.
• March 26: Loney arrives at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.”
Appendix 2: Christian Peacemaker Teams Post-Rescue Statements
(Source: http://www.cpt.org/iraq/response/06-23-03statement.htm )

“CPT Statements

Update from CPT Hostages; Response to Torture Rumours

24 March 2006, 9pm CST
by Rev. Carol Rose and Dr. Doug Pritchard, CPT Co-Directors

"For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes,
the partial will come to an end" (1 Corinthians 13:9-10).

On Mar. 23 and 24, 2006, the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Baghdad met with
colleagues Norman Kember, Jim Loney, and Harmeet Sooden who had just been freed
after four months in captivity. The team found the men to be well, alert and in good
spirits. The men asked many questions about their families, friends and colleagues at
home and in Iraq. They have also begun to tell some parts of the story of their captivity
– of efforts to stay physically fit, of periodic separations and reunions, of receiving a
Christmas cake.

Learning about the death of Tom Fox after their release has been a particular burden.
They said that Tom had taken leadership in encouraging the group right from the
beginning of their captivity. They have not yet shared with CPT any details about their
captors or the events which led to their freedom.

In a statement released to the Baghdad media on Mar. 24, they wrote, "We are deeply
grateful to all those who worked and prayed for our release. We have no words to
describe our feelings of great joy at being free again. Our heads are swirling and when
we are ready we will talk to the media."

The rest of us in CPT are also grateful to all those who worked nonviolently and who
prayed fervently for their release – religious leaders and soldiers, team-mates and
government officials, partner organizations, friends, family, children, women and men
all over the world. We are particularly grateful that no one was injured in this rescue
operation.

In order not to cause Tom Fox's family further pain, and for the sake of accuracy, CPT
urges that the media and everyone concerned refrain from repeating the rumour that
Tom Fox was tortured.. Two CPTers, Rev. Carol Rose and Rich Meyer, viewed Tom's
body and did not see signs of torture. We also have reports from two additional
independent sources who examined the body more thoroughly. They also did not find
evidence of torture. Until the final autopsy report is released, we ask everyone to
withhold their judgement.

Christian Peacemaker Teams will continue in the coming weeks, insofar as it is

humanly possible, to report the truth of what we have witnessed and learned. We do so
because we are followers of Jesus Christ, "the way, and the truth, and the life" (John
14:6 ).

CPTers Freed
23 March 2006

Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney
and Norman Kember have been freed safely in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams
rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved
ones and community. Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now
joy during the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.

We rejoice in the return of Harmeet Sooden. He has been willing to put his life on the
line to promote justice in Iraq and Palestine as a young man newly committed to active
peacemaking.

We rejoice in the return of Jim Loney. He has cared for the marginalized and
oppressed since childhood, and his gentle, passionate spirit has been an inspiration to
people near and far.

We rejoice in the return of Norman Kember. He is a faithful man, an elder and mentor
to many in his 50 years of peacemaking, a man prepared to pay the cost.

We remember with tears Tom Fox, whose body was found in Baghdad on March 9,
2006, after three months of captivity with his fellow peacemakers. We had longed for
the day when all four men would be released together. Our gladness today is made
bittersweet by the fact that Tom is not alive to join in the celebration. However, we are
confident that his spirit is very much present in each reunion.

Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles facing the
people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for justice and peace to live
out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked by armed conflict. They knew that their
only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international
co-workers. We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the
root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnaping and so much pain and suffering
in Iraq. The occupation must end.

Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even
when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow
to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman,
Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give
thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained
their spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so
that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.
Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of concern
for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been especially moved by the
gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers and sisters in the Middle East,
Europe, and North America. That support continues to come to us day after day. We
pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for
respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally
by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.

During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily bread of
hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been taken? Where are
they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will they be released? When?

With Tom’s death, we felt the grief of losing a beloved friend. Today, we rejoice that our
friends Harmeet, Jim and Norman have been freed safely. We continue to pray for a
swift and joyful homecoming for the many Iraqis and internationals who long to be
reunited with their families. We renew our commitment to work for an end to the war
and the occupation of Iraq as a way to continue the witness of Tom Fox. We trust in
God’s compassionate love to show us the way.

Living through the many emotions of this day, we remain committed to the words of Jim
Loney, who wrote:

"With God’s abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies.

With the love of Christ, we will resist all evil.
With God’s unending faithfulness, we will work to build the beloved community."

Addenda to Statement
23 March 2006, 9 p.m. ET

We have been so overwhelmed and overjoyed to have Jim, Harmeet and Norman
freed, that we have not adequately thanked the people involved with freeing them, nor
remembered those still in captivity. So we offer these paragraphs as the first of several
addenda:

We are grateful to the soldiers who risked their lives to free Jim, Norman and Harmeet.
As peacemakers who hold firm to our commitment to nonviolence, we are also deeply
grateful that they fired no shots to free our colleagues. We are thankful to all the people
who gave of themselves sacrificially to free Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom over the
last four months, and those supporters who prayed and wept for our brothers in
captivity, for their loved ones and for us, their co-workers.

We will continue to lift Jill Carroll up in our prayers for her safe return. In addition, we
will continue to advocate for the human rights of Iraqi detainees and assert their right to
due process in a just legal system.”
Appendix 3: “Forgiveness not revenge for Iraq, say former peace hostages”
Statement issued by former hostages, via Ekklesia.co.uk, 8 Dec 06
(Source: http://tinyurl.com/v4tl3 )

The three Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) workers held hostage in Iraq at the end
of 2005 and the beginning of 2006 have said that they are not in a position to decide
whether to testify in criminal proceedings against their alleged captors – but have
stressed that they are committed to the path of forgiveness as the only way forward for
themselves and for all dragged into the mire of violence and injustice.

Norman Kember (from Britain), Jim Loney (Canada) and Harmeet Singh Sooden (New
Zealand) were speaking at St Ethelburga’s in London this morning, at a press
conference facilitated by the UK-based religious think tank and news service, Ekklesia.

The three men expressed sorrow at the murder of their colleague Tom Fox (an
American), and made it clear that what their kidnappers had done was wrong and had
caused hurt and grief to many. But they said that they went to Iraq as peacemakers and
did not want to repay wrong for wrong, but to continue to contribute to rebuilding and
reconciliation.

The three have been asked if they will testify in a criminal trial in Iraq of four men
alleged to have been their captors. They explained that they were unable to accept or
refuse the offer, because the situation regarding the overall fairness of a trial and other
concerns including the death penalty (which they categorically oppose) remain unclear.

Sooden, Loney and Kember said that judicial executions, harsh punishments and
locking people up would not help Iraq move beyond violence and injustice. They put
their trust instead in the power of forgiveness and mercy as opening up ‘a new way
forward’ called for by the Iraq Study Group.

The press conference was held at St Ethelburga’s Peace Centre, an initiative

supported by different faith groups which rose from the ashes of a City of London
church partly destroyed by a bomb during the Northern Ireland troubles.

Kember, Loney and Sooden went to Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams, an
ecumenical initiative founded by Mennonites and others in the peace church tradition.
But they emphasized that their statement (reproduced in full below) was made on their
own behalf, not on behalf of any organization.

Ekklesia directors Jonathan Bartley and Simon Barrow, who facilitated the conference
at the request of the former hostages, said that “the symbolism of the venue as well as
the message of constructive forgiveness are both highly significant in demonstrating
how to move beyond violence and revenge.”

The statement in full reads as follows:

We three, members of a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation to Iraq, were

kidnapped on November 26, 2005 and held for 118 days before being freed by British
and American forces on March 23, 2006. Our friend and colleague, Tom Fox, an
American citizen and full-time member of the CPT team working in Baghdad at the time,
was kidnapped with us and murdered on March 9, 2006. We are immensely sad that he
is not sitting with us here today.

On behalf of our families and CPT, we thank you for attending this press conference
today. It was on this day a year ago that our captors threatened to execute us unless
their demands were met. This ultimatum, unknown to us at the time, was a source of
extreme distress for our families, friends and colleagues.

The deadline was extended by two days to December 10, which is International Human
Rights Day. On this day, people all over the world will commemorate the adoption of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948 by
speaking out for all those whose human dignity is being violated by torture, arbitrary
imprisonment, poverty, racism, oppression or war.

We understand a number of men alleged to be our captors have been apprehended,

charged with kidnapping, and are facing trial in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. We
have been asked by the police in our respective countries to testify in the trial. After
much reflection upon our traditions, both Sikh and Christian, we are issuing this
statement today.

We unconditionally forgive our captors for abducting and holding us. We have no
desire to punish them. Punishment can never restore what was taken from us.

What our captors did was wrong. They caused us, our families and our friends great
suffering. Yet we bear no malice towards them and have no wish for retribution. Should
those who have been charged with holding us hostage be brought to trial and
convicted, we ask that they be granted all possible leniency. We categorically lay aside
any rights we may have over them.

In our view, the catastrophic levels of violence and the lack of effective protection of
human rights in Iraq is inextricably linked to the US-led invasion and occupation. As for
many others, the actions of our kidnappers were part of a cycle of violence they
themselves experienced. While this is no way justifies what the men charged with our
kidnapping are alleged to have done, we feel this must be considered in any potential
judgment.

Forgiveness is an essential part of Sikh, Christian and Muslim teaching. Guru Nanak
Dev Ji, the first of the Sikh Gurus said, "'Forgiveness' is my mother..." and, "Where
there is forgiveness, there is God." Jesus said, "For if you forgive those who sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." And of Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be
Upon Him) it is told that once, while preaching in the city of Ta'if, he was abused,
stoned and driven out of the city. An angel appeared to him and offered to crush the
city between the two surrounding mountains if he ordered him to do so, whereupon the
prophet (or Mohammed PBUH) said, "No. Maybe from them or their offspring will come
good deeds."

Through the power of forgiveness, it is our hope that good deeds will come from the
lives of our captors, and that we will all learn to reject the use of violence. We believe
those who use violence against others are themselves harmed by the use of violence.

Kidnapping is a capital offence in Iraq and we understand that some of our captors
could be sentenced to death. The death penalty is an irrevocable judgment. It erases
all possibility that those who have harmed others, even seriously, can yet turn to good.
We categorically oppose the death penalty.

By this commitment to forgiveness, we hope to plant a seed that one day will bear the
fruits of healing and reconciliation for us, our captors, the peoples of Canada, New
Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and most of all, Iraq. We look forward
to the day when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is respected by all the
world's people.

Signed by:

Harmeet Singh Sooden

Norman Kember
James Loney