A gay Christian
activist thanked God, supporters, and British troops in
Toronto on Sunday for freeing him after four months of
"terrifying" captivity in Iraq, The National
Post reports. "To the British soldiers who risked their
lives to rescue us, to the government of Canada who sent a
team to Baghdad to help secure our release, for all
those who thought about and prayed for us, for all
those who spoke for us when we had no voice, I am
forever and truly grateful. It's great to be alive," James
Loney told a throng of news media an hour after
touching down in the city.
As he strode into
a room at Pearson Airport to meet with media, a bearded
Loney was flanked by his partner, Dan Hunt, brothers Ed and
Matt Loney, and Ed's wife, Donna. He had clearly lost
considerable weight. "During my captivity, I sometimes
entertained myself by imagining this day," Loney said.
"Sometimes I despaired of ever seeing it, always I
ached for it."
Loney said he is
eager to tell the story of his ordeal and is deeply
saddened by the slaying of Tom Fox, a fellow hostage from
the United States and comember of the Christian
Peacemaker Teams. "For 118 days, I disappeared into a
black hole, and somehow, by God's grace, I was spit
out again.... It was a terrifying, profound, powerful,
transformative, and excruciatingly boring experience."
A team of British
and U.S. soldiers freed Loney, 41, fellow Canadian
Harmeet Singh Sooden, 33, and 74-year-old Norman Kember, an
Englishman, in a mission on Thursday that was weeks in
the planning and remains shrouded in secrecy. Fox and
his fellow Peacemakers had been planning to meet Sunni
leaders last November 26 as part of efforts to oppose what
they call the U.S. occupation of Iraq when they were
kidnapped by masked members of the shadowy Brigades of
the Swords of Righteousness.
The
hostage-takers said they would kill the men unless Western
forces released all Iraqi prisoners. Fox, an American,
was shot to death, his body discovered two weeks ago.
Canadian government and intelligence officials as well
as some of this country's elite JTF2 commandos also
reportedly had a hand in the rescue mission.
Loney said he
wanted to fall into an "abyss of love" with family and
friends and longs to "wash a sink full of dirty dishes."
"I am eager to tell the story of my captivity and rescue,
but I need a little time first," Loney said.
"That is a subtle hint to anyone out there who might
have a big camera or notebook." (The Advocate)
