Kember speaks out about hostage ordeal
Kember speaks out about hostage ordeal
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Saturday, 15, Apr 2006 10:09
The peace campaigner Norman Kember has spoken out for the first time about his time as a hostage in Iraq.
Mr Kember, 74, from north-west London was held for four months in Baghdad, before being rescued by British special forces on March 23rd alongside two Canadians who were kidnapped with him.
Tom Fox, an American peace worker who was held along with the trio, was killed some weeks before the rescue.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Mr Kember described how the kidnap began: "We got in our car, the four of us with a driver and a translator, and we were just driving out towards the main road when a car stopped in front of us . out popped four men with guns, pushed out the driver and the translator and took over the car and told Jim to lie on the floor and pointed guns at us, and off we were driven."
He described the feeling as "odd" and "unreal" but that he did "not think" he was frightened.
During his time as a hostage, Mr Kember said that the quartet, or trio, were kept in a room with a closed window, which would sometimes be opened to "let some fresh air in", where they "sat as a row . handcuffed together".
His voice broke with emotion as he spoke of the moment when the British rescuers, arrived.
He said: "It's unbelievable because it was so sudden and first of all, because they were British, they wanted to know if 'Mr Kember' was there, and I said, 'Yes' and then they said, because I was the person at that stage chained to the door, 'This is a bolt-cutter job,' so they went down and cut the padlock and released me."
The interview comes shortly after Mr Kember was criticised for not being grateful enough to those who rescued him.
Addressing the issue, he said that it was "ironic" that he was rescued by members of the special forces when he had gone to Iraq to work as a peace activist but that he "continues to thank" the team who saved him, calling them "brave".
