Former Iraq hostage deported from Israel

Former hostage Harmeet Sooden says he is "reeling" after being held and beaten in an Israeli jail for four days and then removed from the country amid claims that he is a threat to national security.

Mr Sooden, who spent 118 days as a hostage in Iraq, is expected to return to New Zealand today after he was deported from Israel.

The Auckland student was one of four Christian campaigners held captive in late 2005. One of the men was executed.

Mr Sooden, 35 and originally from Canada, had tried on Saturday to enter Israel, where he planned to work for the Palestinian activist group International Solidarity Movement, but was refused entry.

A statement from the organisation says Mr Sooden was detained behind bars for four days, offered no legal representation and subjected to physical violence, including being dragged on to a plane, before he was deported on Wednesday.

It is understood he was flown to Bangkok via Ethiopia and is due in New Zealand this afternoon.

Mr Sooden said on the group's website: "I am still reeling from this experience.

"They never disclosed the official reason for denying me, the Ministry of Interior official told me that I was a threat to the security of the state of Israel.

"It dredged up some old feelings. I told them honestly that I had come to revisit Yad Vashem, visit historic sites and volunteer for ISM."

Mr Sooden, along with Tom Fox, Norman Kember, and James Loney, was kidnapped in Baghdad on November 26, 2005, while working with the Christian Peacemakers Team in Iraq. Mr Fox was later killed by his captors. The surviving three were released four months later.

Mr Sooden said he was questioned by authorities on arrival in Israel, but offered no legal assistance and kept in a cell.

Two attempts to deport him had to be abandoned after he successfully resisted removal, including being dragged on to a flight, the statement said. The pilot then refused to fly and Mr Sooden was returned to his cell.

Australian friend and fellow ISM activist Donna Mulhearn said Mr Sooden would have told airline staff he was being deported against his will.

"To have an unhappy customer on your flight is not the best, so most pilots will put off the flight."

He was eventually deported using security officers on the plane.

Mr Sooden has been living in New Zealand since 2006, where he also has a sister, Preety Brewer.

A Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman said its representatives had not been involved in Mr Sooden's deportation or been asked for consular assistance.

Yesterday an International Solidarity Movement spokesman said the group had been excited about Mr Sooden's arrival - his first return to the Middle East since the 2005 abduction. "People have a huge amount of respect for him here."

The response from Israeli officials was disappointing, but not surprising, he said.