Canadian Hostages Freed in Iraq

The nightmare is over for Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden along with Briton Norman Kember, members of Christian Peacemakers Teams who were held hostage in Iraq for almost four months. Unfortunately, their colleague American Tom Fox was found murdered on March 10, 2006.

Christian Peacemakers Teams have issued a press release regarding today's news.

CBC has a timeline of events that have occurred since the kidnapping and reports that the RCMP was involved in the operation:

Straw said the military operation that led to the release of the hostages occurred after "weeks and weeks" of careful preparation and involved military and civilian personnel, including the RCMP.

"The operation included representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, other agencies from Canada - and they did a terrific job -– as well as the Americans and British staff and those from Iraq," said Straw.

The raid took place at 8 a.m. local time in a rural area near the town of Mishahda, about 30 kilometres north of Baghdad. It was based on information from a man who was captured Wednesday night.

"It was three hours between when we got the information and when we released the hostages," said Maj.-Gen Rick Lynch.
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Canadian military personnel were involved in the operation, according to Pentagon sources, but it's not clear how many took part or what their role was. There have been reports that members of Canada's top secret commando unit, Joint Task Force 2, have been working in Iraq.

The Christian Science Monitor is tracking the news surrounding another hostage, journalist Jill Carroll, who was kidnapped January 7, 2006. Today's hostage rescue may bring hope to those who are desperately waiting for her return as well.

Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, will hold a press conference today at 2pm ET.