FROM A COLD CANADIAN HOCKEY RINK TO BAGHDAD, IRAQ

Author: Timothy Head, Superintendent (rtd)

It was a November afternoon when I took the phone call while coaching my middle daughter’s hockey game in Kanata, Ontario. While changing the lines during the game, I listened intently to what the caller was telling me. The call came from an inspector from the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team who told me that two Canadians were kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq and the government had reached out to the RCMP for assistance. The Minister of Public Safety requested an investigative team assemble and deploy to the Middle East to begin an investigation.

Within hours of the first call, I hurriedly packed a bag and made my way to the rural headquarters of the Canadian Special Operations Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) for a briefing. I had been identified by RCMP senior management to lead a three-person investigative team into the unfolding situation. Briefings were being conducted at the highest levels of government. My team was provided with the most recent intelligence on what had occurred in Baghdad as we prepared to engage in the whole-of-government response. I learned that in the violent aftermath of the Iraq War, four international peace activists from the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) were taken hostage by insurgents in Baghdad. CPT were part of what they believed was a global movement to stop the war in Iraq. They participated in anti-war peace walks and protests in cities around the world.

The CPT hostages were identified as 41-year-old James Loney of Toronto, 32-year-old Harmeet Singh Sooden, formerly of Montreal, Norman Kember, 74, from London, England, and Tom Fox, 54, from the United States.

While experienced in managing critical incidents such as barricaded persons and hostage situations in Canada, the challenge of leading a high-profile investigation abroad seemed overwhelming. Thankfully, there was little time to dwell on the daunting task. Within a day of the initial report and after hastily assembling the required kit and weaponry, our small integrated police and Canadian Forces team was out the door via military transport. JTF2 members were to deploy with our team but operate from a base outside Iraq. Canadian Forces at this time were operating in Afghanistan but did not have troops on the ground in Iraq. As a result, there was political sensitivity in deploying military members to this investigation. Significant Canadian and international media interest was generated from the start of the reported kidnapping. The media interest would remain high through to the conclusion of the incident. JTF2 would eventually join our diplomatic and RCMP team in Baghdad while providing exceptional support to the investigation and incident resolution.

After a short stop at a base in the United Arab Emirates, our RCMP team boarded a Hercules aircraft to Baghdad. Disconcerting were the tactical flying maneuvers of the pilots to avoid insurgency attacks from the ground as we entered Baghdad airspace.

Upon arriving at Baghdad International Airport in the mid-day heat and hauling gear out of the rear of the plane, I was met by something one would see in a Hollywood movie. There was movement everywhere. There were thousands of coalition troops moving like ants in every direction. I saw every type of aircraft, including bombers as well as Apache and Blackhawk attack helicopters. There were Humvees, M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley fighting vehicles in every corner of the airport. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a cellular telephone that would work in Iraq and had to figure out how I would arrange to have our team secure helicopter transport from the secure airport into the U.S.-controlled military Green Zone, also known as the International Zone. To get there, we needed to traverse the Red Zone. The Red Zone was a term designating unsafe areas in Iraq after being entered by the U.S, U.K., and other allies in 2003. It contrasted with the high-security sector of the Green Zone. Since the Green Zone was a small area, the Red Zone applied to all other parts of Baghdad.

After dragging gear across a hot tarmac in what seemed like a kilometre, we entered a hangar. Hundreds of troops filled the hangar with their duffle bags. I learned that many of the troops were waiting for transport into the Green Zone as well and it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for us to wait there for two days. From the activity going on, it was clear to me that our hostage situation was not necessarily a priority for anyone I would meet at the airport. The young U.S. military member behind the counter must have taken pity on our plight and persuasiveness because in addition to lending me his cellular telephone, he directed us to a helicopter which was just spooling up a short distance away. He told us to hurry and get on board with our kit before another group jumps in ahead of us. Loading gear around the .50 caliber gunman on both sides of the aircraft was a challenge. The fast and low flight across the Red Zone with dialled in gunners on both sides of the Blackhawk helicopter drove home the fact that we were operating in a high-risk war zone. The call I made prior to boarding the flight was to the only Canadian diplomat on the ground in Iraq. Stewart Henderson, along with a very small administrative diplomatic team was the Canadian Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2006.

Ambassador Henderson was an amazing diplomat and strong leader. He directed our team to the British Embassy where we would be able to have offices and set up our major case investigation and command post. Upon arriving in the Green Zone and starting the investigation we were provided with security briefings. Weapons and body armour were to be always carried. Attacks in the Green Zone were frequent despite the international security units in place. We were warned not to stand in one spot near gates because sniper fire was a constant threat. When the bomb sirens sounded, it was imperative that immediate shelter be sought in the concrete bunkers. When we did attend meetings in the Red Zone, transport was in armoured vehicles with doors locked due to the risk of kidnapping. During my time in Iraq, there were frequent RPG and small arms fire into the area we were working. The death rate in Iraq during this time was in the thousands per month. It was Iraqi on Iraqi violence as well as the coalition forces operations and the high number of casualties they were both inflicting and taking.

The kidnapping occurred on Saturday, November 26, 2005. On the day of the kidnapping, the four western humanitarian peace activists had a meeting arranged with a Shia cleric and the Muslim Scholars Association. The Muslim Scholars Association had direct links to the insurgency.

The meeting was held at a mosque built by the former Iraqi ruler, Saddam Hussein. It was called the Mother of all Battles mosque and built with the four large minarets to resemble Scud missiles. The mosque was in one of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighbourhoods.

As part of our initial investigation, we learned that CPT would offer delegations visits to Iraq for those interested in seeing the situation on the ground firsthand. Loney was a delegate leader while Sooden and Kember joined the delegation to observe the role of the team. Tom Fox was a regular CPT core team member and was aware of the risks. On the day of the kidnapping the delegation, driver and translator attended the mosque where they were surprised to see a large empty parking lot. Prior to the meeting they were asked to show their passports which to them had not been previously requested at meetings. The meeting was shorter than expected and they were told it had to end. While leaving in their van, a vehicle appeared out of nowhere and cut them off. Four armed men aggressively took them away at gun point. The CPT driver and translator were released and reported the incident. The CPT in Baghdad contacted the UN seeking advice on what to do about their colleagues being abducted. The UN contact told the CPT that they needed to immediately advise the embassies of each CPT member taken and report the kidnapping.

There had been plenty of warnings to westerners intent on travelling to middle eastern countries and this abduction was a stark illustration of the dangers. More than 200 foreigners had been kidnapped in Iraq in the previous 18 months, including two other Canadians. One of those Canadians was among the 38 foreign hostages executed by kidnappers. During our time in Baghdad a few other international persons were kidnapped allowing us to liaise and share intelligence with their investigative teams.

Our RCMP investigative team joined law enforcement colleagues from the U.K, U.S and Iraqi Police to collaborate. We were all aware of the political and media interest from each country involved. During the first few days of our investigation, we learned that the CPT men were being held by a previously unknown group, the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The kidnappers threatened to kill the four unless the U.S. released all Iraqi detainees by December 8th, 2005. While an unreasonable demand, we continued to use all available investigative means while awaiting further contact from the hostage takers. This included forensics, arrests, interviews, Iraqi judicial orders, and communications monitoring.

There was excellent cooperation between our international investigative team. Meetings were held, intelligence shared, and families of the hostages were kept updated through liaison members in their respective countries. A striking example of the hostile situation we were operating in came on a morning when we were waiting for our Iraqi police colleagues to attend a meeting. The reason for their late arrival was because two women suicide bombers blew themselves up and killed 43 young police cadets at their training facility that same morning.

It became obvious early in the investigation that the CPT leadership had divergent views on options to secure the release of the hostages. CPT, being hardline pacifists were obtrusively opposed to any resolution that might involve a tactical intervention. In fact, their group publicly asserted that if armed personnel attempted a rescue the CPT people held hostage would jump in front of the rescuers firearms to ensure their hostage takers were not harmed in anyway.

CPT leadership in Baghdad and abroad indicated their anger in what happened to their teammates was the result of the actions of the U.S and U.K. governments. They said this was due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people.

The hostages appeared in a video dated January 21st, 2006. The kidnappers released the videotape on January 28th and again demanded the release of Iraqi prisoners.

On March 6th, 2006, the Arab all-news satellite channel, Al-Jazeera broadcasted a brief videotape showing three of the four hostages. Loney, Sooden and Kember appeared on the tape. The tape was broadcast without sound, but Al-Jazeera said the men asked their respective governments and Persian Gulf countries to work for their release.
In March 2006, Fox’s tortured and bullet ridden body was found in a Baghdad alley. He was told to run and then shot several times with a Kalashnikov rifle. It wasn’t done on camera nor was he killed for propaganda reasons. It was pure malevolence, pure violence. During our investigation we felt that Fox, being an American citizen, was at greater risk of harm than the three others.

The investigation continued and individuals were identified as being involved. Interviews were conducted with one detained individual providing information on the location of the three remaining hostages.

On March 23rd, 2006, near the town of Mishahda, a military operation was conducted. The well planned operation included British, American, Canadian, and Iraqi forces. The operation resulted in the freeing of Canadians James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, along with Norman Kember.

In the follow-up after rescue, James Loney would speak to the media and tell his story. Loney described CPT as an experiment in non-violence. Their goal was to take the passivity out of pacifism. Their inherent belief was if they took the same risks as the soldiers were taking, their tools of non-violence would positively impact peace in the country. Some of the work they espoused was to act as liaison persons between Iraqis whose family members were arrested and imprisoned by coalition forces. They put themselves in a very precarious situation by renting an apartment in the downtown Baghdad Red Zone. Their actions were incredibly naïve, and they put many people’s lives at risk, including their own. The CPT conversely believed that the military should not have been there and that they were putting innocent people’s lives at risk. Loney continued to downplay any risk others put themselves in to secure his safe rescue.

Arrests were made in Iraq and those involved were charged and brought to justice. Canadians Loney and Sooden were subpoenaed to testify at their hostage takers trial but refused to participate.