Briton says his kidnappers in Iraqi custody

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) Former British hostage Norman Kember said he had learned that Iraqi police had arrested the people who kidnapped him, two Canadians and an American but was reluctant to testify against his captors.

Speaking to Channel 4 News in an interview broadcast yesterday, Kember said British police had told him about the arrests. The broadcaster said the men had been held in custody for a month.

''(The police) told me that the people who kidnapped us were in custody in Iraq, and that a due process of law was going on.

And they hoped that there would be a trial in early 2007,'' Kember said, according to a transcript of the interview.

The Foreign Office was unable to confirm the arrests, while London's Metropolitan Police declined to comment.

The retired professor of medical ethics indicated he might be called on to testify against his captors, but said he would be reluctant to do so and would prefer to see them released.

''I feel that forgiveness is the most positive thing that we can do in this situation,'' he said.

''I don't wish them any ill. I think that some of them had reasons for regarding us as their enemies,'' he said.

At the same time, the peace campaigner said he would testify if it would help his kidnappers receive clemency.

Kember and Christian Peacemaker Teams colleagues Harmeet Sooden and Jim Loney of Canada were rescued by special forces in March from an unguarded house in a Sunni insurgent area to the west of Baghdad.

A fourth hostage, American Tom Fox, was found shot dead two weeks earlier.

Kember said he thought the two Canadians had also been contacted by the police and were similarly undecided on whether or not to testify in a trial.

''We are in contact and I hope that we can come to a common agreement so that we can act together,'' Kember said.

More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion. At least 55 foreign hostages are known to have been killed.

REUTERS DH BST0543