outside his house in Pinner, north-west London, after thanking British soldiers and officials for rescuing him– ending four months in captivity.
"I do not believe that a lasting peace is achieved through armed force, but I pay tribute to their courage, and thank those who played a role in my release, Thursday morning," Norman said at Heathrow Airport where he arrived following a six-and-a-half-hour British Airways flight from Kuwait.
He was flown to Kuwait in a British military transport plane from Baghdad, less than 48 hours after a dramatic British-led rescue operation in a rural area north of the Iraqi capital.
JOINED OPERATION
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said earlier that Briton Norman Kember, 74, and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 33, were rescued in a joint US-British operation between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles (about 19 kilometers) from downtown.
The men, members of the Chicago and Toronto-based conflict resolution group Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), were kidnapped November 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox, 54, whose body was found this month.
A previously unknown group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigades, said it was responsible for kidnapping the four Christian aid workers, claiming they were spies. Kember refused to discuss details about his captivity on Saturday, March 25, that said his wife Pat had suffered more than he.
"In reality it was my wife who was kidnapped last November. She suffered more than I because while I knew I was alive and well, she did not," he said, reading from a handwritten statement he apparently prepared while on his way from Kuwait to the United Kingdom
STRESSFUL TIME
"I thank all who supported Pat during that most agonizing and stressful time," Kember said. "I am delighted to be free, and re-united with my family."
He stressed that "while in Baghdad, the Canadians and I had the opportunity to thank the embassy staff who worked so diligently for our release. And I now thank the staff in Britain who also dedicated so much time to the same end." His thank-you remarks seemed aimed at British Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mike Jackson, who told British television he was "saddened" that Kember had apparently not thanked the troops involved in rescuing 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," he told Channel 4 News. Kember made clear he was thankful, but also added that the media should "not forget the relatives of British soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq."
Sitting with his wife besides him in a Heathrow lounge, he also reached out to Muslim and other faith groups saying he was "grateful to all those from many faith communities who appealed for my release [and] held prayers and vigils in my name."
FLOWER SHOP
Holding hands with his wife he added that "Pat assures that I will be overwhelmed by the good-will messages and our home is currently like a flower shop." He defended his decision not to give in-depth interviews at this time. "I thank the media for agreeing to share the news and reducing the stress on me on this occasion. [However] I now need to reflect on my experience [to ask] ‘Was I fool hearty or rational?,’ and also to enjoy freedom in peace and in quit," he explained.
Reporters who flew with him said it was clear his gladness was tempered by the realization that American Tom Fox had been killed. Military officials said Fox’s body was discovered March 9, near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest.
During the flight Kember was seen focusing on an electronic map on a screen in front of his seat, apparently counting the minutes before he would be re-united with his family. After a brief ride from Heathrow Airport accompanied by British Foreign Office officials, he was welcomed in Pinner by family members including his grandchildren waiting inside his home.
A similar emotional reunion was expected in Canada amid reports that Canadians
James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden would return to their families this weekend. They already celebrated Sooden’s 33rd birthday on Friday, March 24.
QUESTIONS RAISED
Yet the rescued CPT members leave behind questions and increasingly frustrated security forces in Iraq. CPT has been criticized for traveling in Iraq without armed body guards or accepting official protection.
However CPT’s British representative David Cockburn said it was crucial for his group to be unarmed and suggested that Jesus also took risks. He cautioned that while CPT was pleased its staff members were free, it had urged the military not to use violence on principal grounds.
"We don’t want that people get killed or injured, not the soldiers, not the hostages, not the hostage takers," he said.
"The military believes in building peace by using violence…If you leave a conflict zone to people with guns and the military, you will not build peace," he told reporters at Heathrow. CPT claims it is in Iraq to build "bridges of peace" and to campaign against what it calls "the occupation of Iraq" by US-led coalition forces.
It also supports relatives of imprisoned Iraqis and investigated abuses of prisoners. While British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made clear this week he disagreed with CPT’s opinions on Iraq, he was "impressed" with what he called the "Christian" attitude shown by "Pat Kember" and her husband.
In a sign of that, Norman Kember has reportedly already announced in an e-mail that he wants to participate in Sunday’s worship at his local Harrow Baptist Church, asking church members "to reserve a place on the back bench."
MORE KIDNAPPINGS
While Kember and the other Western Christians made world headlines, they are not the only Christians taken as hostages in Iraq, religious rights groups say. Barnabas Fund and other advocacy groups have told BosNewsLife that Iraqi Christians have been kidnapped throughout the country since hostilities began three years ago.
Thousands of Iraqis have been held in captivity since the 2003 US-led invasion, according to observers. Among the 200 foreigners kidnapped in this period, fifty-five foreign hostages are known to have been killed. Two Germans, two Kenyans and American journalist Jill Carroll of the Christian Science Monitor newspaper are still being held.
There are fears of more violence as the country struggles to build a government of national unity. Analysts suggest this could also make it more difficult for minority groups, including especially Christians, who comprise about three percent of the country’s population of 26-million, mainly Muslim, people. (With BosNewsLife News Center Monitoring, Reports from London, Baghdad and BosNewsLife Research).
