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BAGHDAD A coalition force on Thursday freed three Christian peace activists taken hostage in Iraq, ending a four-month hostage drama in which an American among the group was shot to death and dumped on a Baghdad street.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the captives were rescued in the joint U.S.-British operation in rural area northwest of Baghdad, between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles north of Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles from downtown.

Still missing is Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad. She has appeared in three videotapes delivered by her kidnappers to Arab satellite television stations.

British officials in Baghdad said those freed were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men -- members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemakers Teams -- were kidnapped on Nov. 26 along with their American colleague, Tom Fox, 54, whose body was found earlier this month.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said he was ''delighted by the news'' of the trio's release. ''He is particularly pleased for those released and their families. He congratulates everyone involved in the operation to rescue the hostages,'' Downing Street said in a statement.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he had spoken to Kember's wife Pat, who was ''elated at this news.''

Straw also said Kember was in ''reasonable condition'' in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. The two Canadians required hospital treatment, he said, but gave no further details.

Straw also gave few details of the operation, saying only that it followed ''weeks and weeks'' of planning.

The kidnapped men were shown as prisoners in several videos, the most recent a silent clip dated Feb. 28 in which Loney, Kember and Sooden appeared without Fox. His body was found March 10 near a west Baghdad railway line with gunshot wounds to his head and chest.

The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.

Peace campaigner Bruce Kent, a friend of Kember who had attended weekly vigils while he was held hostage, said their release was ''news beyond belief.''

''In this awful mess of Baghdad thank God there is one bright light anyway,'' Kent told Sky News television.

Other Americans taken hostage in Iraq and killed in addition to Fox were Ronald Schulz, 40, an industrial electrician from Anchorage, Alaska; Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Georgia.; Eugene ''Jack'' Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Michigan.; and Nicholas Berg, 26, a businessman from West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The last hostage to be freed in a military operation was Douglas Wood, an Australian rescued in west Baghdad by U.S. and Iraqi forces on June 15 after 47 days in captivity.