Harmeet Singh Sooden

Harmeet Singh Sooden (born March 24 1973) is a Canadian citizen who volunteered for Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. From November 26, 2005, he was held captive in Iraq with three others and threatened with execution until being freed by multinational forces in an operation on March 23, 2006. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4836218.stm|title=British Iraq hostage Kember freed|publisher=BBC News|date=2006-03-23|accessdate=2006-03-23]

Sooden was born and raised in Zambia. He was born into a Sikh family. His mother Manjeet Kaur Sooden and father Dalip Singh Sooden are from Kashmir, where his grandparents still live. [ [http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/hspeacemaker.htm 'Harmeet the Peacemaker'] , letter by Donna Mulhearn] He has one sister, Preety Sooden Brewer, married to a New Zealand man.

He travelled to Iraq as a volunteer for Christian Peacemaker Teams and had this to say about his faith: "Friends and family don’t consider me a Christian although I do have the confidence to identify myself as such if I wish. Some consider me a Sikh, some an atheist; others prefer to think of me as possessing secular values."

Sooden studied electrical engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177100,00.html Profile: Harmeet Singh Sooden] , "Fox News", November 29, 2005] Soon afterwards he obtained Canadian citizenship. In April 2003 he moved to join his family in Auckland, New Zealand. He is presently enrolled as a post-graduate student in English literature at University of Auckland. He is a member of the University of Auckland chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine.

On 23 July, 2006, Harmeet did an extensive interview with journalist Sahar Ghumkhor in which he discussed his reflections on his visits in Iraq before the kidnapping, his captivity, his release and the response of the media. [ [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0608/S00142.htm Ghumkhor, Sahar "Harmeet Sooden Interviewed By Sahar Ghumkhor" 23 July, 2006] ]

ee also

*Norman Kember
*James Loney
*Tom Fox (activist)
*2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis

References

External links

* [http://www.cpt.org/ Christian Peacemaker Teams]
* [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10359448 'Sooden family desperate for news'] , New Zealand Herald, 11 December 2005
* [http://freethecaptivesnow.org/ Free The Captives] : Petition for the release of Christian Peacemakers being held in Iraq – includes latest news and daily updates
* [http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/hs270306.htm Statement issued on behalf of Harmeet Sooden, 27 March 2006]
* [http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/hs310306.htm Media statement by Harmeet Sooden, 31 March 2006]
* [http://cbc.ca/asithappens/media/dailyshow/2006-04-04-aih2.ram RealAudio file of Sooden's post-release interview on CBC Radio's "As It Happens": "I believe it's likely a ransom was paid for us"]
* [https://milnewstbay.pbwiki.com/f/MEDSUMREP%202006-01.4.pdf "Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostage Rescue in Iraq on March 23, 2006"] : Open source media analysis of rescue operation, MILNEWS.ca - Military News for Canadians, 18 Nov 06 (113KB .pdf).