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Joy of friends and relatives
 Two of the hostages appear in video that aired on Arabic-language channel Al-Jazeera. SPECIAL REPORT
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• Interactive: Sectarian divide
• Timeline: Bloodiest days for civilians
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England (CNN) -- Relatives, friends and colleagues of freed hostage Norman Kember, 74, told of their joy and relief at the news. Gillian Collins of the Baptist Peace Fellowship told CNN: "It is something we have been hoping for this for some time but we are just overwhelmed at the news today." The Rev Alan Betteridge, president of the fellowship and friend of Kember for more than 40 years, said: "We are immensely relieved and thankful, especially after the death of Tom Fox, which made us very fearful. "We were praying for his release this morning. We have been praying for them every day," he told the UK's Press Association. Kember's brother was overcome with emotion at the news of the release. Speaking from his home in Taunton, western England, Ian Kember told PA: "It's fresh news to me, I haven't got my thoughts together yet. "It's a wonderful thing, and it's obviously a great relief. This has been the news we have been waiting for for a long time." Peace campaigner Bruce Kent, a friend of Kember who has been involved in weekly vigils for his release since his capture, said "this is news beyond belief." He told Sky News: "In this awful mess of Baghdad thank God there is one bright light anyway." Speaking about his friend's ordeal, he added: "It was absolute torture. And thinking of the unfortunate American Tom Fox who was murdered, they must have had the most terrible time." Chris Cole, director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, where Kember is a trustee, said: "We are obviously delighted to have Norman, James Loney and Harmeet Sooden free. "It is what we have been hoping and praying for for months but at the same time we continue to mourn Tom Fox and to continue to think of his friends and family." "We also continue to mourn all the lives lost in this dreadful war." A member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams said: "I shall be giving Norman a big hug when I see him. It's just amazing to have this news." Speaking on Sky News, Pat Gaffney, general secretary of Pax Christi, said: "The people of Iraq are daily going through the same kind of turmoil that we are going through and really the work of bringing peace to Iraq will have to go on." She described Kember as "a man of great strength... a man of great humanity... totally dedicated to peace. "We'll just see when Norman comes home how he wants to continue his peace work." Imagining how he endured his ordeal, she added: "I would just imagine he was very focused, very clear about what he was doing and why he was there; very focused on his faith." 
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