PittsburghAfterDark
CAGiversary!
If you remember there were four taken, one American who was since found killed, and they proclaimed prior to their capture that they didn't want to be freed should it mean military action and the potential deaths of their captors.
Do you think they're spitting on the Iraqi and American troops that freed them this morning? I mean, they went against their wishes of military action.
I'm sure that once back in Canada and Britian these peace activists will condemn the actions of their liberators.
Anyone want to take a bet?
3 Western Peace Activists Freed in Iraq
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Multinational forces freed three Western hostages early
Thursday in a military operation, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said it was believed the captives were freed in a town north of Baghdad, although there were conflicting reports on the location of the operation.
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 a Chicago-based Christian peace activist group — were kidnapped on Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox, 54, whose body was found earlier this month.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said he was "delighted by the news" of the trio's release. "He is particularly pleased for those released and their families. He congratulates everyone involved in the operation to rescue the hostages," Downing Street said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he had spoken to Kember's wife Pat, who was "elated at this news."
Straw also said Kember was in "reasonable condition" in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. The two Canadians required hospital treatment, he said, but gave no further details.
Straw also gave few details of the operation, saying only that it followed "weeks and weeks" of planning. Iraqi police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said it was believed the operation took place in Mishahda, 20 miles north of Baghdad.
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. Fox's body was found March 10 near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest.
The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
Peace campaigner Bruce Kent, a friend of Kember who had attended weekly vigils while he was held hostage, said their release was "news beyond belief."
"In this awful mess of Baghdad thank God there is one bright light anyway," Kent told Sky News television.
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, Georgia.; Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Michigan.; and Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
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.
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.
Link
Do you think they're spitting on the Iraqi and American troops that freed them this morning? I mean, they went against their wishes of military action.
I'm sure that once back in Canada and Britian these peace activists will condemn the actions of their liberators.
Anyone want to take a bet?
3 Western Peace Activists Freed in Iraq
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Multinational forces freed three Western hostages early
Thursday in a military operation, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said it was believed the captives were freed in a town north of Baghdad, although there were conflicting reports on the location of the operation.
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 a Chicago-based Christian peace activist group — were kidnapped on Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox, 54, whose body was found earlier this month.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said he was "delighted by the news" of the trio's release. "He is particularly pleased for those released and their families. He congratulates everyone involved in the operation to rescue the hostages," Downing Street said in a statement.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he had spoken to Kember's wife Pat, who was "elated at this news."
Straw also said Kember was in "reasonable condition" in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. The two Canadians required hospital treatment, he said, but gave no further details.
Straw also gave few details of the operation, saying only that it followed "weeks and weeks" of planning. Iraqi police Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said it was believed the operation took place in Mishahda, 20 miles north of Baghdad.
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. Fox's body was found March 10 near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest.
The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
Peace campaigner Bruce Kent, a friend of Kember who had attended weekly vigils while he was held hostage, said their release was "news beyond belief."
"In this awful mess of Baghdad thank God there is one bright light anyway," Kent told Sky News television.
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, Georgia.; Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Michigan.; and Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
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.
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.
Link
