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U.S., British forces rescue Iraq hostages

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-24 08:46
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - Without firing a shot, U.S. and British forces stormed a house Thursday and freed three Christian peace activists who were bound but unguarded, ending a four-month hostage ordeal that saw an American in the group killed and dumped along a railroad track.

U.S., British forces rescue Iraq hostages
Christian Peacemaker Teams' co-director Carol Rose stands in front of a poster showing members of the Chicago-based group: James Loney,top left, Tom Fox, Harmeet Singh Sooden, bottom left, and Norman Kember, bottom right, during a news conference Thursday, March 23, 2006, in Chicago. [AP]

The U.S. ambassador and the top American military spokesman held out hope the operation on the outskirts of Baghdad could lead to a break in the captivity of American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was abducted Jan. 7.

The military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, said the 8 a.m. rescue of the Briton and two Canadians from a "kidnapping cell" was based on information divulged by a man during interrogation only three hours earlier. The man was captured by U.S. forces on Wednesday night.

A senior Iraqi military officer told The Associated Press, however, that the operation had been under way for two days in the Abu Ghraib suburb west of Baghdad, site of the notorious prison. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his position, said U.S. and British forces refused to give him other details.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadian forces also took part in the rescue operation, although their precise role was unclear.

But the joyful news was tempered by violence that raged throughout Iraq as the day wore on. Fifty-eight people were killed in execution-style slayings, bombings and gun battles. For the third straight day, Sunni insurgents hit a major police and jail facility — this time with a suicide car bombing that killed 25 in central Baghdad.

Lynch claimed a reinforced U.S. and Iraqi security presence in the capital had prevented car bombings on five recent consecutive days, but acknowledged that attacks "surged today."

No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into the house where the peace activists were discovered with their hands tied.

"They were bound, they were together, there were no kidnappers in the areas," Lynch told a news briefing.

The freed men were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men — members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams — were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with an American colleague, Tom Fox, 54.

Fox's body was found this month, shot and dumped in western Baghdad.

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