|PIC1|Norman Kember has spoken out about his 118-day ordeal as a hostage in Iraq along with three fellow peace workers with the Christian Peacemaker Teams.

In an interview with The Baptist Times, Mr Kember thanked his fellow Baptists for “keeping us in your prayers, for your vigils, and for the hundreds of letters Pat and I have received”.

He said: “We have been overwhelmed by the goodwill and the concern we have been shown.”

Mr Kember went on to reveal the full despair of his ordeal as a hostage of his little-known captors, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade.

“The experience of being confined is desperate. Not going outside for four months – it’s having that time stolen. I’d want to remind your readers how precious life is, and how precious the sight of a green tree would be when you’re deprived of it.”

He also described the somewhat unpredictable treatment he and his fellow hostages, Canadians Tom Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, as well as the murdered American Tom Fox, received at the hands of their captors.|QUOTE|

He said: “One night our captors took us downstairs, sat us in front of the TV, and showed us the life of Jesus on DVD in Arabic. But these are the people who shot Tom Fox in the head. People are very complex.”

He added: “Also, I think they wanted to keep us happy, so that we wouldn’t try any desperate escape.”

|AD|The freed captives have faced recent criticism that they failed to thank the SAS team that rescued them. Mr Kember said: “I’m very grateful to them for rescuing me. And our diplomatic service was super. I am full of praise for them.”

The 74-year-old returned to his home in Pinner, north-west London at the weekend before attending a special thanksgiving service at his local Harrow Baptist Church on Sunday.

A letter from the imam of the Harrow mosque was read at the service which expressed how “delighted” local Muslims were “at the wonderful news” of Kember’s release.

Fellow hostage, Harmeet Singh Sooden, touched down in New Zealand Monday. A statement released by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on his behalf expressed his “gratitude for the support and concern the group received” but also the desire for “time and space to be reunited in private with his family and friends”. In the statement Sooden also thanked those involved in his rescue.

James Loney said in a statement on his arrival in Canada that he had “disappeared into a black hole” for the 118 days he was held captive.