Freed British hostage Norman Kember flew out of Iraq today and two Canadian peace activist colleagues prepared to head home tomorrow, members of their organisation said in Baghdad.
"Norman has already left," Peggy Gish of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) told a news conference, saying he flew on a British military aircraft. She added that Jim Loney and Harmeet Sooden planned to leave tomorrow if possible.
British diplomats declined comment but a source familiar with the flight plans said Mr Kember would make an overnight stop in Kuwait before flying on to London tomorrow.
Earlier, the 74-year-old retired professor of medical ethics, said: "I have had the opportunity to have a shave, a relax in the bath and a good English breakfast. I'm very much looking forward to getting home to British soil and to being reunited with my family," he said in a brief statement released by the British embassy.
Fellow activists said the three, who were freed on Thursday by British-led special forces, had been unaware of the killing of the fourth member of their group, American, Tom Fox, whose beaten body was dunped in Baghdad two weeks ago.
Mr Kember has been at the embassy since Thursday morning, when he, Mr Sooden (32) and Mr Loney (41) were rescued from a house in western Baghdad. They were bound but unguarded.
Ms Gish said they were moved once during their four months in captivity.