Rescued British Hostage Reflects on Trip to Iraq

Peace activist Norman Kember smiles at his wife, Pat, at a press conference in Britain after four months in captivity in Iraq. (By Luke Macgregor -- Getty Images)

LONDON, March 25 -- A British peace activist returned home to London on Saturday after being held captive in Iraq for months, saying he needed time to reflect on whether his decision to go to Baghdad had been "foolhardy or rational."

Norman Kember, 74, whose gaunt face broadcast in grainy video images had become a constant reminder in Britain of the toll of the war in Iraq, held his wife's hand and calmly told reporters at Heathrow Airport: "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."

"It is the ordinary people of Iraq that you should talk to, the people who have suffered so much over many years and still await the stable and just society that they deserve," he said.

Apparently irked that Kember had not sufficiently acknowledged the effort that had gone into his rescue on Thursday, Gen. Mike Jackson, the head of the British army, said Friday night: "I am slightly saddened that there doesn't seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives."

Jackson, speaking on Channel 4 News, was asked whether he meant that Kember had not said thank you. He replied: "I hope he has and I have missed it."

Kember and two Canadian peace activists, James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, were kidnapped in November and rescued by British special forces and the U.S. military Thursday.

A fourth member of their team, Tom Fox, 54, a father of two from Virginia, was found dead earlier this month, his hands bound and his body dumped in the street. Why Fox alone was killed remained unclear Saturday, and Kember said he was not ready to discuss the details of his four months in captivity.

Special forces, hostage negotiators and undercover intelligence officers from the United States, Britain, Canada and Iraq had been following leads in insurgent areas to learn the whereabouts of Kember and the other hostages. Kidnapping has become a growing problem in Iraq, with Iraqis and foreigners snatched off the streets. An American freelance journalist, Jill Carroll, remains missing.

The U.S. military told reporters that a team of special forces stormed a building and found the three hostages unguarded and sitting bound on the floor. The captives were freed without a shot being fired.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said after the operation, "I'd like to say how pleased I am that he was released and pay tribute to the extraordinary courage, dedication and commitment of the British, American, Iraqi, Canadian and other forces that were involved in that operation."

When asked what he would tell others thinking of traveling to Iraq on peace missions, Blair said: "I think people should just accept the Foreign Office advice that's given, that's the sensible thing to do."

The Foreign Office strongly advises against all travel to Iraq.

Kember is a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, an international group whose aim in Iraq, according to its Web site, is to focus attention on detainee abuses and "efforts to end occupation and militarization of the country." These peace activists have gone unescorted into dangerous parts of Iraq to aid family members of imprisoned Iraqis.

Kember's colleagues said they intended to continue their work in the country.

Jan Benvie, a member of the group from Edinburgh, Scotland, told the BBC that she planned to travel to Iraq, despite criticism that her presence might endanger the lives of her rescuers if she were abducted. "We make it clear that if we are kidnapped, we do not want there to be force or any form of violence used to release us," she said.

Kember, Fox and other members of the group also had told friends and written in notes that they did not want violence to be used to secure their release if they were kidnapped, Benvie and other peace activists said.

British military officials declined to comment on reports Saturday night that such requests may have affected how they handled the rescue operation.