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British hostage returns home
25/03/2006 17:28 - (SA)
London - Norman Kember, the British hostage held in Iraq for almost four months, briefly thanked his rescuers on his arrival back in London on Saturday, while expressing his opposition to the presence of foreign troops in the country.
"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," a short statement issued to the press said.
Kember, 74, then left the airport with his wife Pat without facing the television cameras.
He was released on Friday morning by Western forces in Iraq along with two Canadians, Jim Loney, 41, and Harmeet Sooden, 32. A fourth member of the Christian Peacemakers Teams organisation, US national Tom Fox, was found dead in Baghdad two weeks ago.
The four were abducted on November 26 by a group calling itself the Brigades of the Swords of Righteousness, which threatened to kill the hostages unless all Iraqi prisoners were released.
His return was marred by controversy after the head of the British armed forces, General Sir Mike Jackson, said on Friday he regretted Kember had seemingly not publicly thanked the British troops who had freed him.
"I am slightly saddened that there doesn't seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives," Jackson told Channel 4 News.
Asked if he meant that Kember had not said thank you, Jackson said: "I hope he has and I have missed it."
However Jonathan Bartley, who works with Kember's organisation in Britain, stressed that Christian Peacemaker Teams issued a public statement on Thursday night thanking the rescuers.
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