THE charity that sent Norman Kember, the British peace campaigner, to Iraq has suspended its operations in the country.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) said Kember’s hostage ordeal had made the charity too high profile to operate safely in Iraq. It has evacuated its volunteers and warned they might not return.

The British peace activist, two Canadians and an American, Tom Fox, were seized by Islamic extremists in November last year. Fox was murdered, while Kember and the other captives, Harmeet Sooden and James Loney, were freed by the SAS after four months in captivity.

Kember, from London, was later criticised by a senior military commander, who accused him and his fellow peace campaigners of failing to thank properly the soldiers who had risked their lives to rescue them. They all denied the accusation.

As a result of the incident, CPT, which is based in Chicago and Toronto, said continuing to operate in Iraq would put its local partners and international volunteers at too great a risk.

“We are reviewing our position to decide whether or not we are actually helping peace activists in Iraq,” said a spokeswoman for the charity. “It’s possible we could stop sending people. We are concerned about further endangering Iraqis and taking unnecessary risks.

“The kidnapping caused us to reflect on what we are doing. Sometimes the presence of internationals will draw more attention to local individuals or organisations and perhaps put them in danger.”

Jan Benvie, from Fife, hoped to go back to Iraq in the summer, but will now be deployed elsewhere in the Middle East.

“Our partners are urging caution, saying it would be inadvisable at present to go to Baghdad. The level of unrest is particularly high,” she said. “The whole hostage situation has made it very difficult for our partners.”

Justin Alexander, a Scot who works with CPT, has already been sent to Jordan.

“CPT remained in Iraq until the end of the hostage crisis,” he said. “Since then it has been consulting with Iraqi partners about what they advise it to do now — whether it should leave Iraq for a period, relocate to a neighbouring country or focus energies on campaigning in the West.”

CPT was formed to enable Christians to devote the same discipline to peacemaking that armies devote to war.

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