Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Norman Kember Will Not Testify

Norman Kember, the British peace campaigner kidnapped in Iraq, will not testify against his kidnappers unless it helped them get clemency. He was told by police that Iraqi police had arrested those responsible for kidnapping him and three others had been arrested. Mr Kember, though, feels unable to testify against them:

I think that some of them had reasons for regarding us as their enemies. I feel that forgiveness is the most positive thing that we can do in this situation. I would rather they went free than they had a long prison sentence.
Don't forget that they didn't just kidnap four men; one of those hostages, am American, was found murdered. Another thing you shouldn't forget is that after spending a month as a hostage he was finally rescued by the SAS. Yet, despite being saved from death by British soldiers, he declined to thank them for rescuing him.