Profiles: Freed Canadian hostages

Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden have been freed in Iraq after being held hostage for almost four months.

Their colleague from Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), Briton Norman Kember, was also freed, but the fourth hostage, American Tom Fox, was murdered.

JAMES LONEY

James Loney has worked for the underprivileged all his life

James Loney, 41, of Toronto, was the leader of the CPT delegation to Iraq.

A community worker and CPT activist for over five years, he was leading the mission to take testimony from families of people detained by coalition forces in Iraq.

A trained mediator, he has been involved in counselling projects in Toronto, and in providing support and services for the homeless.

He also travelled with CPT to the Palestinian territories.

He is a keen outdoor sportsman, spending many summer holidays on hiking and canoeing trips.

HARMEET SINGH SOODEN

Harmeet Singh Sooden had wanted to work in conflict zones

Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, was born and raised in Zambia by parents of Kashmiri Sikh heritage.

He studied electrical engineering at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and gained Canadian citizenship in the meantime.

More recently, however, he had been living in New Zealand, where he was studying English literature at University of Auckland.

He travelled to the Middle East to try to become involved in working with Palestinians.

He was planning to do a logistics course for engineers so that he could work in overseas development and in response to disasters and conflict.

He enjoys playing and coaching squash.