Terry Waite who was held captive in Lebanon is knighted

Former hostage and campaigner Terry Waite who spent almost five years in captivity in Lebanon says knighthood is ‘peak’ achievement

• Sir Terry, 84, was taken hostage in Lebanon and held captive from 1987 to 1991
• During his captivity he was subjected to a mock execution and brutal torture

Former hostage and charity campaigner Terry Waite said yesterday that his knighthood was among his life’s ‘peak’ achievements.

Sir Terry, 84, who spent almost five years in captivity in Lebanon, was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for his services to charity.

He travelled to Beirut as an envoy for the Church of England to try to secure the release of four hostages, including the journalist John McCarthy.

But he was taken hostage himself and held captive from 1987 to 1991, including four years in solitary confinement, during which time he was subjected to a mock execution and brutal torture.

Now co-founder and president of Hostage International, which supports the families of hostages, and president of the homelessness charity Emmaus, he said he intended to keep working.

Terry Waite who was held hostage in Lebanon from 1987 to 1991 said that his knighthood was among his life’s ‘peak’ achievements

Queen Elizabeth II meets Terry Waite at a Commonwealth Day reception in London, March 1992

Speaking of his knighthood, Sir Terry, of Hartest, Suffolk, said: ‘It is a very significant honour and I’m really amazed that I’ve got it.

‘I’m getting on but I’m still working at 84. I’m still very active. I suppose it’s a peak, really. I was given an MBE many years ago and then I got a CBE several years afterwards. Now this is the next one up, so to speak.’

Sir Terry added: ‘I think I’ve been very fortunate to get this because there are many other people who are deserving of honours who don’t get mentioned.

‘I’ve just been fortunate to be one who’s been picked out for some reason or other.’

Phil Bigley, the brother of murdered hostage Ken Bigley, was made an OBE for his work with Hostage International, where he is chairman of the board of trustees.

He dedicated the award to the memory of his late brother, a civil engineer from Liverpool who was kidnapped by Islamist extremists in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in September 2004 before being beheaded three weeks later.

Canterbury’s archbishop special hostage negotiator Terry Waite leaves Lebanon by plane guarded by soldiers, 1991

Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s special hostage negotiator, attends a press conference in Beirut

Source: Read Full Article