Christian Peacemakers Teams have reported that former hostage Norman Kember was flown out of Baghdad on a British transport.

US and British troops yesterday freed three Christian peace activists in rural Iraq without firing a shot.

While the Christian Peacemakers Teams expressed joy at their colleagues’ sudden rescue from captivity in Iraq today, the peace activists took the opportunity to also call for an end to the US-led occupation of Iraq.

US and British forces freed three Christian peace activists, British man Norman Kember and two Canadians, without firing a shot this morning, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street earlier this month.

An American hostage who was kidnapped in Iraq last year with Briton Norman Kember has been killed.

Al-Jazeera television today broadcast a 25-second, silent videotape showing Briton Norman Kember and two other hostage Christian Peacemaker activists in Iraq.

A French engineer taken hostage in Iraq last month has been found alive, police said today.

Kidnappers extended a deadline until Saturday in their threat to kill four captive peace activists, including Briton Norman Kember.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today said the government cannot meet the demands of Iraqi kidnappers holding Briton Norman Kember, two Canadians and an American.

FOUR peace activists taken hostage in Iraq were shown in an insurgent video broadcast on Arab television yesterday, with a previously unknown group claiming responsibility for the kidnapping.

Four peace activists taken hostage in Iraq were shown in an insurgent video broadcast on Arab television today, with a previously unknown group claiming responsibility for the kidnapping.

Steve Bruce has been named as the new manager of Crystal Palace on a two-year contract.