Rescued hostages unharmed

Three Western hostages, including New Zealand student Harmeet Sooden, show no signs of having been beaten or tortured in captivity, a colleague of theirs said today.

Mr Sooden, a Canadian citizen, and two other hostages were released unharmed after coalition troops raided a Baghdad house and found them bound but unguarded last night.

The three, and an American hostage Tom Fox who was found dead early this month, were kidnapped on November 26.

They were all in Iraq working with the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) organisation.

CPT spokeswoman Peggy Gish told National Radio this morning that she had visited the released men in Baghdad.

She said: "They look well, except for being thin. They seem strong. Their minds are sharp. They're eager to find out about their family and what's happening outside.

"They said that they were not physically abused in any way."

The three had not known for sure Mr Fox had been killed until their rescue.

"They had hints of it. They had last seen him 40 days ago but they were not sure what had happened until today," Ms Gish said.

The three had talked to their families but so far had said little about their captors.

CPT members in Baghdad would be seeing them again tomorrow and a British embassy official said the three men were in "good shape" in the embassy.

Mr Sooden's father and brother-in-law Mark Brewer will fly from Auckland to the Middle East today. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement at lunchtime in which they said the family would from now on "deal with just one media outlet", a TV network. Before issuing that statement, Mr Brewer told NZPA: "We're just looking forward to getting hold of him, giving him a big hug and bringing him back home to his family."

Mr Brewer said Mr Sooden's parents and sister were "overjoyed" that Mr Sooden and two of the three other peace activists kidnapped in Baghdad last November had been freed.

Mr Brewer said the four-month wait had been "excruciating" at times, especially after hearing of the death of Mr Fox on March 10.

- NZPA