I wonder what the NDP will have to say about Canadian Military allegedly being in Iraq.
http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060323/hostages_freed_060323
Canadian, British peace hostages freed in Iraq
CTV.ca News Staff
Two Canadian aid workers and a British colleague held hostage in Iraq for nearly four months were freed Thursday during a multinational military operation involving Canadian special forces.
The freed aid workers include Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74.
CTV News has learned that Canada's elite Joint-Task Force 2 was involved in the rescue in western Baghdad.
"We're told that Canadian special forces and British special forces played a very key role," CTV's Robert Fife told Newsnet.
The Defence Department refuses to confirm Canadian military involvement in the operation.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, speaking in London, said the Mounties were also involved in the rescue, but an RCMP spokesman would not confirm that.
The three aid workers -- all members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams -- had been held hostage since late November, when they were kidnapped at gunpoint.
Loney's brother, Ed, speaking this morning on CTV's Canada AM, said he was "elated" by the news of their release.
Also kidnapped was American Tom Fox, 54, whose bullet-riddled body was found on a Baghdad street on March 10, just days after his captors released a video in which he was ominously missing.
"It's a bittersweet joy for us as we also grieve the loss of Tom Fox," said Doug Pritchard, co-chair of the Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The military operation
The operation to free the three aid workers was carried out early Thursday. U.S. and British forces broke into a house in western Baghdad and freed the hostages, according to Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch.
The hostages were freed without a shot being fired, Lynch added. They were bound, and held together. Their captors were not present.
Lynch said the operation to free the three hostages in Iraq was based on information from a man who was captured by U.S. forces last night.
Only three hours passed from the time rescuers learned the exact whereabouts of the hostages and when the raid took place, he said.
However, Straw said planning for the operation had been in the works for "weeks and weeks" but gave few details.
"I'm delighted that now we have a happy ending to this terrible ordeal," Straw said.
Terrorism expert Alan Bell said most likely special forces would have been involved in this rescue.
"Hostage rescue technique is a very fine process, and only highly-trained people can perform this," Bell told CTV Newsnet.
"Although it turned to this was a lot less sort of hostile then was probably originally anticipated, the fact is you can't send unseasoned people in to do this type of operation."
Family 'elated'
The families of the hostages appealed several times for the release of the men. They relied on a series of videotapes broadcast on the al-Jazeera network to keep hope alive. Then today, word finally came of their release.
Ed Loney said his parents called him at around 1 a.m. to let him know that his brother was safe.
"I thought it was a dream, and I kind of shook my head for a second. I realized that, no, it really is true. He's coming home. That's how that all played out -- in a really beautiful dream for once."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he has spoken with the two Canadian hostages, and said their release is "wonderful news."
"The safe return of these men is what we all sought, and I want to thank all those here in Canada and around the world who have worked so tirelessly to secure their safe release."
He also offered his condolences to Fox's family.
Straw, who announced the release of the hostages earlier today, said Fox's death is "a matter of great sorrow to everybody that he was killed a little while ago."
The freed hostages are at the British Embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone.
The kidnapping
The four aid workers were kidnapped Nov. 26. Just a few days later, a previously-unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for the abduction in a videotaped aired on the al-Jazeera television network.
In a second videotape released Dec. 2, the group threatened to kill the hostages by Dec. 8 if all Iraqi detainees were not released from U.S. and British detention facilities by Dec. 8.
The deadline was later extended to Dec. 10, but it passed without word on the fate of the aid workers.
The last time the four hostages were seen together was in a silent videotape broadcast on al-Jazeera on Jan. 28. A voice-over on the tape called it the "last chance" for authorities to release Iraqi prisoners.
A videotape broadcast on al-Jazeera on March 7 did not show Fox. The other three aid workers were shown apparently calling on their governments to help them.
At least 235 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq and nearly 40 have been killed over the past two years. Most have been released, although a number are still missing.
With files from The Canadian Press
