http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/five-british-hostages-kidnapped-iraq
Peter Moore, 34, from Lincoln, was working as an IT consultant for BearingPoint when he was kidnapped. He was installing software which would have tracked millions of dollars of funds and aid money passing through Iraq's finance ministry – some of which was believed to be going to Iranian-backed militias.
Moore endured a difficult childhood after his parents, Graeme and Avril, split up when he was one. At seven he moved to Leicester when his mother married Patrick Sweeney.
In 2004 Moore travelled to Guyana to work for Voluntary Service Overseas – he had planned to return to the South American country following his work in Iraq.
After being kidnapped in May 2007, he appeared in a hostage video released by his captors on 26 February 2008. In it Moore called for Gordon Brown to release the prisoners wanted by the kidnappers. He said: "Nothing is happening. To Gordon Brown the deal is simple, release the prisoners, we can go, it's as simple as that, it is a simple exchange of people, that is all they want."
Moore appeared in a second hostage video released to the British embassy in Baghdad on 22 March. This recording has never been broadcast, but according to his mother, Avril Sweeney, who has watched the video, Moore looked well and said he would be home soon.
Alec Maclachlan
Alec Maclachlan, 29, a former paratrooper from Llanelli, was one of four GardaWorld security guards protecting Moore when they were kidnapped from a finance ministry building in Baghdad.
Maclachlan's was the third body to be released by the kidnappers to the British embassy, on 3 September this year. According to autopsy reports he had been killed between March and May 2008 by a single bullet to the head.
The former soldier was the son of Helen and Colin Maclachlan. He had a brother Ross and was father to Kyle.
Alan McMenemy Alan McMenemy.
Alan McMenemy, 34, from Milngavie in Scotland, was a paratrooper for eight years, serving in Africa and Bosnia, before joining GardaWorld as a security guard. He was four days away from finishing a three-month contract with the company when he was kidnapped. His father, Dennis McMenemy, was told by the Foreign Office that his son was killed at the same time as other bodyguards.
In a video released by the kidnappers on 19 July 2008, the former soldier spoke of his personal suffering, saying: "Physically, I'm not doing well. Psychologically I'm doing a lot worse." He was married to Rosalyn McMenemy and had two young children. Today, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, said the government had believed for some time that he was dead and demanded the release of his body.
Jason Creswell
Jason Creswell, 39, from Portlethen, Aberdeen, worked as a chef before joining the army at 16. He was based at St Omer barracks in Aldershot.
While working in Iraq as a security guard for GardaWorld, Creswell trained as a paramedic. Medicine became his passion. During his days off he treated injured soldiers and Iraqi civilians. He was due to take up a place at medical school on returning from Iraq.
Creswell's body was handed over to the British authorities in Baghdad on 19 June. A subsequent autopsy found he had been killed between March and May 2008 – there was evidence of gunshot as well as stab wounds. When news came through of his death his brother Jack Creswell, also in the army, was flown home from the front line in Afghanistan. Jason Creswell leaves a daughter, Maddi.
Jason Swindlehurst
Jason Swindlehurst, 38, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, was a former soldier who also went into security industry after leaving the forces.
He was shown in a video, dated 18 November 2007 and released by the kidnappers, flanked by gunmen with a sign reading: "the Islamic Shia resistance of Iraq". The video, which was broadcast on al-Arabiya TV, warned that one hostage would be killed unless British troops were withdrawn from Iraq within 10 days. Swindlehurst was pictured saying: "I have been now held for 173 days and I feel as though we have been forgotten. I miss my daughter and family very much and would like to be returned very soon – it seems here that time has no end."
On 19 July 2008 the kidnappers released another video claiming that he had killed himself – this claim was later proved to be false when his body was handed over to the British authorities in Baghdad along with that of Creswell in June of this year.
He is survived by his former wife, Kerry Wallace, and his eight-year-old daughter, Jaye.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Revealed: hand of Iran behind Britons' Baghdad kidnapping
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/iran-britons-baghdad-kidnapping
The five British men kidnapped in Iraq were taken in an operation led and masterminded by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to evidence uncovered during an extensive investigation by the Guardian.
The men – including Peter Moore, who was released today after more than two years in captivity – were taken to Iran within a day of their kidnap from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007, several senior sources in Iraq and Iran have told the Guardian.
They were incarcerated in prisons run by the al-Quds force, a unit that specialises in foreign operations on behalf of the Iranian government.
One of the kidnappers has told this paper that three of the Britons – Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan – were subsequently killed after the British government refused to take ransom demands seriously.
Tonight it emerged that part of the deal that led to the release of Moore involved the handing over of a young Shia cleric, Qais al-Khazali, a leading figure in the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the Iranian Republican Guards elite unit, the al-Quds brigades. Khazali was tonight handed over by the US military for release by the Iraqi government.
The year-long Guardian investigation can also reveal that:
• Moore was targeted because he was a computer specialist installing a sophisticated tracking system that would show how vast amounts of international aid money from Iraqi institutions was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq.
• Some of the four men were tortured before being killed.
• The bodyguards' bodies were eventually traded in return for the release of Iraqi prisoners.
• They had been probably been dead for at least 18 months before three of their bodies were handed over earlier this year.
• The men's employers, GardaWorld, conceived a plan to pay a $2.5m ransom.
Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln, and the four security guards were taken on 29 May 2007 from the Iraqi ministry of finance's technology centre in central Baghdad. Moore had been a contractor working to install sophisticated new computer software in the ministry to track down billions of dollars in international aid and oil revenues.
A group of up to 100 men entered the building and took the Britons, racing off into Baghdad traffic in a fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers. A sixth man – who the Guardian can reveal was Peter Donkin – was left by the kidnappers after he managed to hide under floorboards.
A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard member, speaking to the Guardian under conditions of anonymity, said the extraordinary kidnap was masterminded by Iran. The man, a former major who worked for 14 years inside the Iranian organisation and claims to have taken part in kidnap operations himself, believes the hostages were held in two al-Quds camps in Iran – one known as Qasser Shiereen military camp, close to the Iraqi border crossing with Mehran, and a second camp known as the Tehran Pars, located near a salt lake north-east of Qom.
"It was an Iranian kidnap, led by the Revolutionary Guard, carried out by the al-Quds brigade," he said. "My contact works for al-Quds. He took part in the planning of the kidnap and he watched the kidnapping as it was taking place. He told me that they spent two days at the Qasser Shiereen camp. They then took them deep inside Iran."
This claim is backed up by a serving Iraqi government minister with close links to Iran. "This was an IRG [Iranian Revolutionary Guard] operation," he said. "You don't think for a moment that those militia groups from Sadr City could have carried out a high-level kidnapping like this one."
A former intelligence chief at the Iraqi ministry of defence has also described to the Guardian how intelligence operatives followed the kidnappers as they took the hostages from a mosque in Baghdad's Sadr City to the Iranian border.
"They were hooded and handcuffed, then the cars drove off in a new direction – they were headed towards the Iranian border," the intelligence chief said.
The others Britons captured with Moore were all security guards. The bodies of Swindlehurst and Creswell were identified in June, followed by Maclachlan in September.
McMenemy is also believed dead, although his body has not been returned.
It is not clear where the men were killed. Their bodies were buried inside Iraq and information about their locations was traded for prisoner releases.
A Guardian report in July revealed evidence that Iraqi officials colluded in the kidnap of the five British men and that one of the motives was to prevent millions of dollars of aid money from being tracked – including an estimated $18bn that had gone missing.
A former senior Iraqi intelligence chief claims that the project that Moore was working on would have laid bare exactly where all Iraq's money was going. He claims there was an Iranian link to the alleged financial cover-up.
The Foreign Office said tonight: "We have no evidence that the British hostages, including Peter Moore, were held in Iran. We are not in a position to say with any certainty where they were held during each and every single day of their two and a half years in captivity."
The five British men kidnapped in Iraq were taken in an operation led and masterminded by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to evidence uncovered during an extensive investigation by the Guardian.
The men – including Peter Moore, who was released today after more than two years in captivity – were taken to Iran within a day of their kidnap from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007, several senior sources in Iraq and Iran have told the Guardian.
They were incarcerated in prisons run by the al-Quds force, a unit that specialises in foreign operations on behalf of the Iranian government.
One of the kidnappers has told this paper that three of the Britons – Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan – were subsequently killed after the British government refused to take ransom demands seriously.
Tonight it emerged that part of the deal that led to the release of Moore involved the handing over of a young Shia cleric, Qais al-Khazali, a leading figure in the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the Iranian Republican Guards elite unit, the al-Quds brigades. Khazali was tonight handed over by the US military for release by the Iraqi government.
The year-long Guardian investigation can also reveal that:
• Moore was targeted because he was a computer specialist installing a sophisticated tracking system that would show how vast amounts of international aid money from Iraqi institutions was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq.
• Some of the four men were tortured before being killed.
• The bodyguards' bodies were eventually traded in return for the release of Iraqi prisoners.
• They had been probably been dead for at least 18 months before three of their bodies were handed over earlier this year.
• The men's employers, GardaWorld, conceived a plan to pay a $2.5m ransom.
Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln, and the four security guards were taken on 29 May 2007 from the Iraqi ministry of finance's technology centre in central Baghdad. Moore had been a contractor working to install sophisticated new computer software in the ministry to track down billions of dollars in international aid and oil revenues.
A group of up to 100 men entered the building and took the Britons, racing off into Baghdad traffic in a fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers. A sixth man – who the Guardian can reveal was Peter Donkin – was left by the kidnappers after he managed to hide under floorboards.
A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard member, speaking to the Guardian under conditions of anonymity, said the extraordinary kidnap was masterminded by Iran. The man, a former major who worked for 14 years inside the Iranian organisation and claims to have taken part in kidnap operations himself, believes the hostages were held in two al-Quds camps in Iran – one known as Qasser Shiereen military camp, close to the Iraqi border crossing with Mehran, and a second camp known as the Tehran Pars, located near a salt lake north-east of Qom.
"It was an Iranian kidnap, led by the Revolutionary Guard, carried out by the al-Quds brigade," he said. "My contact works for al-Quds. He took part in the planning of the kidnap and he watched the kidnapping as it was taking place. He told me that they spent two days at the Qasser Shiereen camp. They then took them deep inside Iran."
This claim is backed up by a serving Iraqi government minister with close links to Iran. "This was an IRG [Iranian Revolutionary Guard] operation," he said. "You don't think for a moment that those militia groups from Sadr City could have carried out a high-level kidnapping like this one."
A former intelligence chief at the Iraqi ministry of defence has also described to the Guardian how intelligence operatives followed the kidnappers as they took the hostages from a mosque in Baghdad's Sadr City to the Iranian border.
"They were hooded and handcuffed, then the cars drove off in a new direction – they were headed towards the Iranian border," the intelligence chief said.
The others Britons captured with Moore were all security guards. The bodies of Swindlehurst and Creswell were identified in June, followed by Maclachlan in September.
McMenemy is also believed dead, although his body has not been returned.
It is not clear where the men were killed. Their bodies were buried inside Iraq and information about their locations was traded for prisoner releases.
A Guardian report in July revealed evidence that Iraqi officials colluded in the kidnap of the five British men and that one of the motives was to prevent millions of dollars of aid money from being tracked – including an estimated $18bn that had gone missing.
A former senior Iraqi intelligence chief claims that the project that Moore was working on would have laid bare exactly where all Iraq's money was going. He claims there was an Iranian link to the alleged financial cover-up.
The Foreign Office said tonight: "We have no evidence that the British hostages, including Peter Moore, were held in Iran. We are not in a position to say with any certainty where they were held during each and every single day of their two and a half years in captivity."
The people dealing with Peter Moore should keep him from the public gaze
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6971955.ece
Many survivors have a feeling of guilt. Why me? Why have I survived and not my associates? Did I do something that gave rise to their deaths? Or do I have some responsibility, now that I have survived, in some way to honour them?
This is obviously caught up with the whole confusion about coming back to a very different reality.
There is a lot of evidence from the autobiographies of former hostages that they find ways of escaping psychologically. They read or play chess or imagine themselves going on long journeys that they remember very well. Over a couple of years they survive by just treating captivity as daily life.
The important point for the people dealing with Peter Moore will be to try to keep him from the public gaze for a while.
When Terry Waite came back and got off the plane he was quite clearly shocked and stunned. He was a big, powerful man with tremendous personal resources but just facing the crowd of people after having been isolated for so long was a terribly difficult thing.
Surviving kidnapping is rare, particularly when you are looking at groups with a political ideology who often feel that killing the hostage is part of their mission.
Mr Moore is very fortunate to have survived. There will be euphoria and an enormous relief initially and then the need to catch up with all the emotional things that have happened.
We do not know what else has gone on in his life — children, family, whether close relatives have died and other such issues that he may have to come to terms with.
Much depends on the individual and how grounded they are. All the evidence shows that traumatic situations are much mediated by the previous experience that the individual has had and how sound and capable they are before the trauma.
It is whether the individual really has a rooted basis for their day-to-day psychology. Some people would refer to it as a strong ego, a well defended ego, that would help them to cope.
Going into the situation that Mr Moore went into, where he knew that there was a risk of kidnap, may be a strength.
Preparation is very helpful: knowing what the possibilities are and having assessed them and understanding something of the background, and why people may be kidnapping you and what their purposes in doing so may be.
An intelligent man going into a situation he has been advised of has resources to draw on that enable him to cope so he is probably going to pull through it very well.
Many survivors have a feeling of guilt. Why me? Why have I survived and not my associates? Did I do something that gave rise to their deaths? Or do I have some responsibility, now that I have survived, in some way to honour them?
This is obviously caught up with the whole confusion about coming back to a very different reality.
There is a lot of evidence from the autobiographies of former hostages that they find ways of escaping psychologically. They read or play chess or imagine themselves going on long journeys that they remember very well. Over a couple of years they survive by just treating captivity as daily life.
The important point for the people dealing with Peter Moore will be to try to keep him from the public gaze for a while.
When Terry Waite came back and got off the plane he was quite clearly shocked and stunned. He was a big, powerful man with tremendous personal resources but just facing the crowd of people after having been isolated for so long was a terribly difficult thing.
Surviving kidnapping is rare, particularly when you are looking at groups with a political ideology who often feel that killing the hostage is part of their mission.
Mr Moore is very fortunate to have survived. There will be euphoria and an enormous relief initially and then the need to catch up with all the emotional things that have happened.
We do not know what else has gone on in his life — children, family, whether close relatives have died and other such issues that he may have to come to terms with.
Much depends on the individual and how grounded they are. All the evidence shows that traumatic situations are much mediated by the previous experience that the individual has had and how sound and capable they are before the trauma.
It is whether the individual really has a rooted basis for their day-to-day psychology. Some people would refer to it as a strong ego, a well defended ego, that would help them to cope.
Going into the situation that Mr Moore went into, where he knew that there was a risk of kidnap, may be a strength.
Preparation is very helpful: knowing what the possibilities are and having assessed them and understanding something of the background, and why people may be kidnapping you and what their purposes in doing so may be.
An intelligent man going into a situation he has been advised of has resources to draw on that enable him to cope so he is probably going to pull through it very well.
Peter Moore: Britain stuck to ‘no negotiation’ policy as hostages died
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6972071.ece
The Government’s policy over the five hostages seized in Baghdad two years ago has relied on maximum caution, restrained publicity and discreet behind-the-scenes contacts.
The result has been three, maybe four men, killed, with only Peter Moore surviving. His security protectors, all with military backgrounds, were murdered. But their deaths, solemnly announced by the Foreign Office, did not change the approach adopted by the Government.
Despite criticism from some of the families, the Government has not wavered from its policy of never negotiating with hostage-takers, on the ground that any concessions offered — whether linked to ransoms or the release of extremists from prison — would encourage more kidnappings.
The Foreign Office has attempted, from the beginning to limit the publicity, to the extent that the families of the hostages were advised to say nothing in public. As the months went by, the families decided that some publicity would be beneficial, and interviews were given that included direct pleas for mercy to the kidnappers.
The Foreign Office considered that any personal details would help the kidnappers, and newspapers and broadcast media were asked to reveal as little as possible about the men.
The virtual news blackout when the five men were taken contrasted with the kidnapping of Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist seized in Gaza, who was able to listen to radio reports of attempts to gain his release. He was freed unharmed after four months.
In Iraq more than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2004 and, although the number of British hostages has been relatively low, a high proportion of those seized have died. The challenge for the British Embassy in Baghdad has been to try to unravel the motivations for each of the kidnappings.
For a while the policy has officially remained the same — no negotiations — and each case has offered the potential for peripheral negotiations and for covert operations by special forces. The SAS in Baghdad tried to find Mr Moore and his four security men in the days after their capture, while the trail was still hot, despite the kidnappers warning that they would kill their hostages if any mission were launched to free them.
Behind the scenes, British officials in Baghdad have been trying to reach contacts who might have links to the kidnappers. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, hinted at this when he said yesterday that there had been no “substantive” concessions to the hostage-takers, suggesting that in return for Mr Moore a number of extremists held in prison may have been released.
The kidnappers, originally calling themselves the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq, warned that the hostages would remain prisoners “for as long as it takes” to secure the release of Qais al-Khazali, a former chief spokesman for the Shia al-Mahdi Army. According to Channel 4 News, the security company for which the three, probably four, murdered contractors worked, offered several million dollars for their release but this was turned down by the kidnappers, who restated their demand for al-Khazali’s release.
Al-Khazali, who led an al-Mahdi faction trained in Iran, was detained by American forces but British officials had no power to free him. In the past few days he has been released into the custody of the Iraqi Administration.
The Government’s policy over the five hostages seized in Baghdad two years ago has relied on maximum caution, restrained publicity and discreet behind-the-scenes contacts.
The result has been three, maybe four men, killed, with only Peter Moore surviving. His security protectors, all with military backgrounds, were murdered. But their deaths, solemnly announced by the Foreign Office, did not change the approach adopted by the Government.
Despite criticism from some of the families, the Government has not wavered from its policy of never negotiating with hostage-takers, on the ground that any concessions offered — whether linked to ransoms or the release of extremists from prison — would encourage more kidnappings.
The Foreign Office has attempted, from the beginning to limit the publicity, to the extent that the families of the hostages were advised to say nothing in public. As the months went by, the families decided that some publicity would be beneficial, and interviews were given that included direct pleas for mercy to the kidnappers.
The Foreign Office considered that any personal details would help the kidnappers, and newspapers and broadcast media were asked to reveal as little as possible about the men.
The virtual news blackout when the five men were taken contrasted with the kidnapping of Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist seized in Gaza, who was able to listen to radio reports of attempts to gain his release. He was freed unharmed after four months.
In Iraq more than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since 2004 and, although the number of British hostages has been relatively low, a high proportion of those seized have died. The challenge for the British Embassy in Baghdad has been to try to unravel the motivations for each of the kidnappings.
For a while the policy has officially remained the same — no negotiations — and each case has offered the potential for peripheral negotiations and for covert operations by special forces. The SAS in Baghdad tried to find Mr Moore and his four security men in the days after their capture, while the trail was still hot, despite the kidnappers warning that they would kill their hostages if any mission were launched to free them.
Behind the scenes, British officials in Baghdad have been trying to reach contacts who might have links to the kidnappers. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, hinted at this when he said yesterday that there had been no “substantive” concessions to the hostage-takers, suggesting that in return for Mr Moore a number of extremists held in prison may have been released.
The kidnappers, originally calling themselves the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq, warned that the hostages would remain prisoners “for as long as it takes” to secure the release of Qais al-Khazali, a former chief spokesman for the Shia al-Mahdi Army. According to Channel 4 News, the security company for which the three, probably four, murdered contractors worked, offered several million dollars for their release but this was turned down by the kidnappers, who restated their demand for al-Khazali’s release.
Al-Khazali, who led an al-Mahdi faction trained in Iran, was detained by American forces but British officials had no power to free him. In the past few days he has been released into the custody of the Iraqi Administration.
Peter Moore went for a job — and ended up as a hostage for 946 days
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6972065.ece
The lead kidnapper, dressed as an Iraqi police major, shouted “Where are the foreigners?” as he led a team of gunmen, also in uniform, into the Finance Ministry building in Baghdad.
Peter Moore, a computer expert, was giving a lecture to a class of Iraqi civil servants. A second western consultant was also present along with four British security guards, tasked with providing close protection.
Outnumbered and outgunned, Mr Moore and the guards — Alan McMenemy, 34, Alec MacLachlan, 30, Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39 — were led away. The other consultant managed to escape, hidden by his students.
Carried out just before midday on May 29, 2007, it was the most audacious abduction of westerners since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The kidnapping was also highly political, taking place inside an Iraqi Government compound by an Iranian-backed group of Shia militants, the League of the Righteous.
Within hours an emergency response meeting was held in Whitehall, and hostage rescue experts were sent to the British Embassy in Baghdad.
The SAS conducted nightly raids on suspected hideouts in the Shia slum of Sadr City, East Baghdad, where the hostages were initially held, while an incident room inside the Embassy fielded calls from potential sources.
After a week, Dominic Asquith, then Britain’s Ambassador to Iraq, made the first formal appeal for the hostages’ release, indicating that the Government was prepared to talk to the kidnappers. Such public appeals have been few and far between, but behind the scenes intense efforts were under way to establish contact with the right people — a difficult task, made harder by numerous false leads. “This was not a conventional kidnapping,” said a source who was involved in the investigation during the first few months. “We were dealing with people who were obviously killers.” At one point five fingers were sent to the Embassy with a note attached saying that they were from the five hostages.
DNA tests proved the claim to be untrue. But in the immediate aftermath no one admitted responsibility for the kidnapping, no ransom demand was made and no word was heard from the hostages until December 2007 when the kidnappers released video footage of one of the hostages. They warned that a captive would be killed if British troops did not leave Iraq in ten days.
In later statements, the group, which in Iraq calls itself Asaib al-Haq, also demanded the release of ten prisoners held in US detention in Iraq — a condition that became the key to solving the kidnap, but also meant that the United States rather than Britain held the decisive cards.
Months stretched into years, making the kidnapping Britain’s longest-running hostage crisis in two decades. It was an agonising time for the families of the five men, who made appeals on the anniversaries of their kidnapping and also during the Christmases that their loved ones missed.
By the start of this year the trail had appeared to run cold. The wellbeing and whereabouts of the hostages remained a mystery. Some sources suggested that the men were being held in Iran, others said that some or maybe all had been killed. In July 2008 the kidnappers released a video claiming that one of the hostages had committed suicide, while the Foreign Office maintained publicly that it thought all five hostages were still alive.
In June, however, came the news the hostages’ families had been dreading. The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst and Mr Creswell were handed to the British Embassy in Baghdad. An inquest concluded that they died of multiple gunshot wounds.
While a tragedy for the families, the return of the bodies coincided with the release of Laith al-Khazali from a US detention centre near Baghdad airport. He was one of the detainees with links to the kidnappers. It was the first clear indication that some sort of dialogue was taking place.
More movement took place over the coming months, with the British Government saying in July it believed that the other two guards, Mr McMenemy and Mr MacLachlan, were also dead. Two months later Mr MacLachlan’s body was handed over to the British authorities.
Hopes have always remained, however, that Mr Moore would be released alive. Unlike the four guards — former military men who worked for the Canadian security company Garda World — Mr Moore, 36, was a civilian computer consultant, making him more politically valuable. Also working in his favour was the significant change in Iraq’s political and security climate, an evolution that occurred too late to save the lives of his four colleagues.
Shia militias and militants linked to Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda wielded tremendous power in 2007, but the Government, while still vulnerable, is much stronger today. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, has met representatives of Asaib al-Haq as part of a wider effort to encourage once militant groups to lay down their arms and join the political process, particularly as the country prepares for a general election in the new year.
Part of this process is a US pledge to hand all those in US detention in Iraq over to the Iraqi authorities for release or prosecution by the end of 2011.
In the ultimate breakthrough that ended Mr Moore’s two-and-a-half year ordeal, Qais al-Khazali, the brother of Laith, was also handed over to the Iraqi authorities. A question mark had always hung over his release because he is accused of being involved in an attack that killed five US soldiers in early 2007, making him a valuable detainee.
Gordon Brown was also under tremendous pressure to bring at least one hostage home alive. He and David Miliband were criticised for failing to do enough after the earlier deaths.
As for the kidnappers, many questions remain about the masterminds behind the plot. Sources suspect that senior Iraqi officials may have had a hand, particularly as the attack was able to take place inside the Finance Ministry building. It remains to be seen whether anyone will ever be prosecuted for the crime.
In addition, the wait continues for the family of Mr McMenemy, whose death has yet to be confirmed and whose body has yet to be returned.
For Mr Moore, at least, there is a happy ending. He is undergoing medical tests in Baghdad, but is expected to be reunited with his family this week.
The lead kidnapper, dressed as an Iraqi police major, shouted “Where are the foreigners?” as he led a team of gunmen, also in uniform, into the Finance Ministry building in Baghdad.
Peter Moore, a computer expert, was giving a lecture to a class of Iraqi civil servants. A second western consultant was also present along with four British security guards, tasked with providing close protection.
Outnumbered and outgunned, Mr Moore and the guards — Alan McMenemy, 34, Alec MacLachlan, 30, Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39 — were led away. The other consultant managed to escape, hidden by his students.
Carried out just before midday on May 29, 2007, it was the most audacious abduction of westerners since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The kidnapping was also highly political, taking place inside an Iraqi Government compound by an Iranian-backed group of Shia militants, the League of the Righteous.
Within hours an emergency response meeting was held in Whitehall, and hostage rescue experts were sent to the British Embassy in Baghdad.
The SAS conducted nightly raids on suspected hideouts in the Shia slum of Sadr City, East Baghdad, where the hostages were initially held, while an incident room inside the Embassy fielded calls from potential sources.
After a week, Dominic Asquith, then Britain’s Ambassador to Iraq, made the first formal appeal for the hostages’ release, indicating that the Government was prepared to talk to the kidnappers. Such public appeals have been few and far between, but behind the scenes intense efforts were under way to establish contact with the right people — a difficult task, made harder by numerous false leads. “This was not a conventional kidnapping,” said a source who was involved in the investigation during the first few months. “We were dealing with people who were obviously killers.” At one point five fingers were sent to the Embassy with a note attached saying that they were from the five hostages.
DNA tests proved the claim to be untrue. But in the immediate aftermath no one admitted responsibility for the kidnapping, no ransom demand was made and no word was heard from the hostages until December 2007 when the kidnappers released video footage of one of the hostages. They warned that a captive would be killed if British troops did not leave Iraq in ten days.
In later statements, the group, which in Iraq calls itself Asaib al-Haq, also demanded the release of ten prisoners held in US detention in Iraq — a condition that became the key to solving the kidnap, but also meant that the United States rather than Britain held the decisive cards.
Months stretched into years, making the kidnapping Britain’s longest-running hostage crisis in two decades. It was an agonising time for the families of the five men, who made appeals on the anniversaries of their kidnapping and also during the Christmases that their loved ones missed.
By the start of this year the trail had appeared to run cold. The wellbeing and whereabouts of the hostages remained a mystery. Some sources suggested that the men were being held in Iran, others said that some or maybe all had been killed. In July 2008 the kidnappers released a video claiming that one of the hostages had committed suicide, while the Foreign Office maintained publicly that it thought all five hostages were still alive.
In June, however, came the news the hostages’ families had been dreading. The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst and Mr Creswell were handed to the British Embassy in Baghdad. An inquest concluded that they died of multiple gunshot wounds.
While a tragedy for the families, the return of the bodies coincided with the release of Laith al-Khazali from a US detention centre near Baghdad airport. He was one of the detainees with links to the kidnappers. It was the first clear indication that some sort of dialogue was taking place.
More movement took place over the coming months, with the British Government saying in July it believed that the other two guards, Mr McMenemy and Mr MacLachlan, were also dead. Two months later Mr MacLachlan’s body was handed over to the British authorities.
Hopes have always remained, however, that Mr Moore would be released alive. Unlike the four guards — former military men who worked for the Canadian security company Garda World — Mr Moore, 36, was a civilian computer consultant, making him more politically valuable. Also working in his favour was the significant change in Iraq’s political and security climate, an evolution that occurred too late to save the lives of his four colleagues.
Shia militias and militants linked to Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda wielded tremendous power in 2007, but the Government, while still vulnerable, is much stronger today. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, has met representatives of Asaib al-Haq as part of a wider effort to encourage once militant groups to lay down their arms and join the political process, particularly as the country prepares for a general election in the new year.
Part of this process is a US pledge to hand all those in US detention in Iraq over to the Iraqi authorities for release or prosecution by the end of 2011.
In the ultimate breakthrough that ended Mr Moore’s two-and-a-half year ordeal, Qais al-Khazali, the brother of Laith, was also handed over to the Iraqi authorities. A question mark had always hung over his release because he is accused of being involved in an attack that killed five US soldiers in early 2007, making him a valuable detainee.
Gordon Brown was also under tremendous pressure to bring at least one hostage home alive. He and David Miliband were criticised for failing to do enough after the earlier deaths.
As for the kidnappers, many questions remain about the masterminds behind the plot. Sources suspect that senior Iraqi officials may have had a hand, particularly as the attack was able to take place inside the Finance Ministry building. It remains to be seen whether anyone will ever be prosecuted for the crime.
In addition, the wait continues for the family of Mr McMenemy, whose death has yet to be confirmed and whose body has yet to be returned.
For Mr Moore, at least, there is a happy ending. He is undergoing medical tests in Baghdad, but is expected to be reunited with his family this week.
We can smile again, say family of freed hostage Peter Moore
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6972073.ece
Peter Moore’s family reacted with jubilation last night at his release, saying that a great burden had been lifted and they could finally “smile again”.
Popping champagne after their third consecutive dismal Christmas turned into an unexpected celebration, his relatives said that the news was the “best present ever”.
Mr Moore’s mother, Avril Sweeney, 54, described the moment that she was told of her son’s release as a “bolt out of the blue, a complete and wonderful shock”.
Speaking at her home in Thornton, near Blackpool, she said: “It was like carrying something around with you, or straining under a big black cloud. Now it has been lifted. All I want to do now is see him back, happy and healthy. Most of all he has got his freedom.”
Mr Moore spoke to his stepfather, Fran Sweeney, on the phone and told how he thought that he was “going out to get a bullet in the back of the head” before he suddenly realised that he was being set free. He also asked about the fate of his fellow hostages, but had not yet been told that the three were dead.
Mr Sweeney’s wife, Pauline, said she was “euphoric” that her stepson was safe and expected to “lose the plot” once she saw him in person.
She described the years that Mr Moore had been held hostage as horrendous. “We have had three funerals. We are very close to the other families. Today is still tinged with sadness because we have no news of Alan [McMenemy, a fellow hostage]. His wife rang me today. She is elated for us but it was obviously quite a tearful message from her.
“It’s been a real upheaval, a roller-coaster ride.”
Mr Moore’s natural father, Graeme Moore, 60, speaking from his home in Wigston, Leicestershire, told The Times that the news was an amazing Christmas present.
“I’m just overjoyed. When I heard there was going to be a statement from the Foreign Office, I thought the worst. I’m delighted he is free.”
Edna Moore, 84, the former hostage’s grandmother, had been praying for his release and was “completely choked up”, she said. “In situations like this you think the worst and you hope for the best. We have had the best.”
Meanwhile, the news also presented a glimmer of hope for relatives of Mr McMenemy, the only hostage whose fate is unknown.
His wife, Roseleen, 34, speaking from her home in Glasgow, urged her husband’s captors to show compassion and release him. She said: “I’m delighted for Peter and his family. It is great news for them. I just hope that they show the same compassion for Alan and he will be released soon. We now just have to sit, hope and wait.”
Members of Mr Moore’s extended family were divided on their view of how the Foreign Office had dealt with the hostage taking.
Mr and Mrs Sweeney said they were confident that everything possible had been done for their stepson. Mrs Sweeney said: “Every hostage situation is different. I believe everything was done that could have been done.”
However Mr Moore, who has not seen his son since he was 21, said that it was a botched operation. “If they had done it properly, all five would walking out of there,” he said.
He added that he hoped to rekindle a relationship with his son upon his return to Britain. “Our aim is to get him back with his friends and get his life back on track.”
Terry Waite, the former Middle East hostage who has been in touch with the family, said that Mr Moore should “take things step by step”, but he believed there was every chance that he could recover fully from his ordeal.
Peter Moore’s family reacted with jubilation last night at his release, saying that a great burden had been lifted and they could finally “smile again”.
Popping champagne after their third consecutive dismal Christmas turned into an unexpected celebration, his relatives said that the news was the “best present ever”.
Mr Moore’s mother, Avril Sweeney, 54, described the moment that she was told of her son’s release as a “bolt out of the blue, a complete and wonderful shock”.
Speaking at her home in Thornton, near Blackpool, she said: “It was like carrying something around with you, or straining under a big black cloud. Now it has been lifted. All I want to do now is see him back, happy and healthy. Most of all he has got his freedom.”
Mr Moore spoke to his stepfather, Fran Sweeney, on the phone and told how he thought that he was “going out to get a bullet in the back of the head” before he suddenly realised that he was being set free. He also asked about the fate of his fellow hostages, but had not yet been told that the three were dead.
Mr Sweeney’s wife, Pauline, said she was “euphoric” that her stepson was safe and expected to “lose the plot” once she saw him in person.
She described the years that Mr Moore had been held hostage as horrendous. “We have had three funerals. We are very close to the other families. Today is still tinged with sadness because we have no news of Alan [McMenemy, a fellow hostage]. His wife rang me today. She is elated for us but it was obviously quite a tearful message from her.
“It’s been a real upheaval, a roller-coaster ride.”
Mr Moore’s natural father, Graeme Moore, 60, speaking from his home in Wigston, Leicestershire, told The Times that the news was an amazing Christmas present.
“I’m just overjoyed. When I heard there was going to be a statement from the Foreign Office, I thought the worst. I’m delighted he is free.”
Edna Moore, 84, the former hostage’s grandmother, had been praying for his release and was “completely choked up”, she said. “In situations like this you think the worst and you hope for the best. We have had the best.”
Meanwhile, the news also presented a glimmer of hope for relatives of Mr McMenemy, the only hostage whose fate is unknown.
His wife, Roseleen, 34, speaking from her home in Glasgow, urged her husband’s captors to show compassion and release him. She said: “I’m delighted for Peter and his family. It is great news for them. I just hope that they show the same compassion for Alan and he will be released soon. We now just have to sit, hope and wait.”
Members of Mr Moore’s extended family were divided on their view of how the Foreign Office had dealt with the hostage taking.
Mr and Mrs Sweeney said they were confident that everything possible had been done for their stepson. Mrs Sweeney said: “Every hostage situation is different. I believe everything was done that could have been done.”
However Mr Moore, who has not seen his son since he was 21, said that it was a botched operation. “If they had done it properly, all five would walking out of there,” he said.
He added that he hoped to rekindle a relationship with his son upon his return to Britain. “Our aim is to get him back with his friends and get his life back on track.”
Terry Waite, the former Middle East hostage who has been in touch with the family, said that Mr Moore should “take things step by step”, but he believed there was every chance that he could recover fully from his ordeal.
UK hostage Peter Moore released alive in Iraq
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8435075.stm
British hostage Peter Moore has been released alive from captivity in Iraq, the Foreign Office has said.
Mr Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln, was seized at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in Baghdad in May 2007.
Three fellow guards seized at the same time were later shot dead and their bodies flown back to the UK.
Alan McMenemy, a security guard from Glasgow, is understood to remain a hostage in Iraq.
Mr Moore had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq. The other men were security contractors employed to guard him.
The bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Jason Creswell, of Glasgow, were returned to the UK in June 2009, followed by that of Alec MacLachlan, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, in September.
British hostage Peter Moore has been released alive from captivity in Iraq, the Foreign Office has said.
Mr Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln, was seized at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in Baghdad in May 2007.
Three fellow guards seized at the same time were later shot dead and their bodies flown back to the UK.
Alan McMenemy, a security guard from Glasgow, is understood to remain a hostage in Iraq.
Mr Moore had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq. The other men were security contractors employed to guard him.
The bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Jason Creswell, of Glasgow, were returned to the UK in June 2009, followed by that of Alec MacLachlan, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, in September.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Iraq hostage family 'confident' he is alive
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/international_politics/iraq+hostage+family+aposconfidentapos+he+is+alive/3469402
The family of British hostage Peter Moore have told Channel 4 News they are "confident" he is still alive, two years and seven months since he was kidnapped in Iraq.
Mr Moore, aged 36, was in a group of five British men snatched by gunmen outside a government building in Baghdad in May 2007. He was installing asset tracing software at the Finance Ministry when he was kidnapped.
Jason Creswell, Alec Maclachlan and Jason Swindlehurst were later killed and their bodies returned home. Alan McMenemy is feared dead, leaving Peter Moore, in all probability, the last surviving member of the five hostages.
The IT consultant from Lincoln had been working for BearingPoint, an American management consultancy. Another British BearingPoint contractor was working alongside peter Moore on the day of the kidnapping, but escaped capture after hiding in the building.
It is now 934 days since he was kidnapped. Now, Mr Moore's relatives are facing their third Christmas without him.
His step-parents, Pauline and Fran Sweeney, have told Channel 4 News they believe he is still alive.
"We have to believe that. It's been a long time," Fran said.
Pauline added: "We have to cling onto that. It's been such a long time that it would be absolutely devastating if he didn't come home now."
The couple have issued a new plea for Peter's captors to release him in time for Christmas.
Pauline also told home affairs correspondent Andy Davies: "It's not a time for celebration when he's not with us. For Jason, Jason and Alec's families it is a time for mourning. Enough is enough - please just send them home."
"There hasn't been a lot of news for a while. We really don't know a lot more. We just pray for a fast conclusion."
"Every day it just drags on and on. We would just love to see him home for Christmas," said Fran.
He added: "There's a lot of information we can't get hold of. It does make it very difficult. We have a faith everyone's doing what they need to do to get the release of the two guys."
Pauline described the last three years: "It's just been a total rollercoaster of emotions. Some days you have better days, I won't say good days. Some days you have really bad days. Times of celebrations - birthdays, Christmas - times when we would have all been together as a family, have been very difficult.
"Thank God we've had the other familes to get through it with us. They're the only ones that understand what we're going through."
Tony Blair, who was still prime minister when the men were taken, promised the British government would do everything possible to help free the men. Since then Foreign Secretary David Miliband has insisted the hostages have not been forgotten.
The Foreign Office has today told Channel 4 News no effort is being spared and that they remain in close contact with those in Iraq who may be able to help.
The family of British hostage Peter Moore have told Channel 4 News they are "confident" he is still alive, two years and seven months since he was kidnapped in Iraq.
Mr Moore, aged 36, was in a group of five British men snatched by gunmen outside a government building in Baghdad in May 2007. He was installing asset tracing software at the Finance Ministry when he was kidnapped.
Jason Creswell, Alec Maclachlan and Jason Swindlehurst were later killed and their bodies returned home. Alan McMenemy is feared dead, leaving Peter Moore, in all probability, the last surviving member of the five hostages.
The IT consultant from Lincoln had been working for BearingPoint, an American management consultancy. Another British BearingPoint contractor was working alongside peter Moore on the day of the kidnapping, but escaped capture after hiding in the building.
It is now 934 days since he was kidnapped. Now, Mr Moore's relatives are facing their third Christmas without him.
His step-parents, Pauline and Fran Sweeney, have told Channel 4 News they believe he is still alive.
"We have to believe that. It's been a long time," Fran said.
Pauline added: "We have to cling onto that. It's been such a long time that it would be absolutely devastating if he didn't come home now."
The couple have issued a new plea for Peter's captors to release him in time for Christmas.
Pauline also told home affairs correspondent Andy Davies: "It's not a time for celebration when he's not with us. For Jason, Jason and Alec's families it is a time for mourning. Enough is enough - please just send them home."
"There hasn't been a lot of news for a while. We really don't know a lot more. We just pray for a fast conclusion."
"Every day it just drags on and on. We would just love to see him home for Christmas," said Fran.
He added: "There's a lot of information we can't get hold of. It does make it very difficult. We have a faith everyone's doing what they need to do to get the release of the two guys."
Pauline described the last three years: "It's just been a total rollercoaster of emotions. Some days you have better days, I won't say good days. Some days you have really bad days. Times of celebrations - birthdays, Christmas - times when we would have all been together as a family, have been very difficult.
"Thank God we've had the other familes to get through it with us. They're the only ones that understand what we're going through."
Tony Blair, who was still prime minister when the men were taken, promised the British government would do everything possible to help free the men. Since then Foreign Secretary David Miliband has insisted the hostages have not been forgotten.
The Foreign Office has today told Channel 4 News no effort is being spared and that they remain in close contact with those in Iraq who may be able to help.
Monday, 14 December 2009
British hostage Peter Moore 'held by Iran', claims Iraqi MP
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6804897/British-hostage-Peter-Moore-held-by-Iran-claims-Iraqi-MP.html
An Iraqi MP has claimed Peter Moore, the British hostage snatched from the finance ministry in Baghdad two years ago, is now being held in Iran by the elite Revolutionary Guard.
By Damien McElroy
Published: 7:30AM GMT 14 Dec 2009
Jamal Aldin claimed Peter Moore, a computer expert seized along with four British security contractors, is in the hands of a general in the Guard. "I understand from good sources he has been moved in and out of Iran," said Mr Aldin.
While the four guards are feared to be dead, Gordon Brown has said he believes that Mr Moore is still alive
Mr Aldin claimed General Qassim Sulaimani, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC, now controlled the fate of Mr Moore, who was kidnapped by Shia militiamen posing as police officers.
''General Sulaimani effectively controls the revolutionary guard in Iraq who have Mr Moore," he said.
The centrist Iraqi politician who was born in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, which has close links with Iran's Shia Muslims, has campaigned against Iranian influence in Iraq.
He said David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, should raise Mr Moore's plight with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. British officials have privately cast doubt on Mr Moore's continued survival.
"The revolutionary guard have absolute control of him," said Mr Aldin. "Nobody knows exactly where he is but I am sure he's been in Tehran."
Mr Aldin warned the Iraqi government was incapable of securing Mr Moore's freedom because it was under the control of Iran. "The real danger in Iraq is Iran. It controls Iraq with a firm fist," he said.
"The Iranian regime will continue to be a problem with a nuclear weapon or not, with interference in Iraq or not.
"The problem is that the regime believes it represents God. If this goes unchecked, its influence will extend to Morocco."
An Iraqi MP has claimed Peter Moore, the British hostage snatched from the finance ministry in Baghdad two years ago, is now being held in Iran by the elite Revolutionary Guard.
By Damien McElroy
Published: 7:30AM GMT 14 Dec 2009
Jamal Aldin claimed Peter Moore, a computer expert seized along with four British security contractors, is in the hands of a general in the Guard. "I understand from good sources he has been moved in and out of Iran," said Mr Aldin.
While the four guards are feared to be dead, Gordon Brown has said he believes that Mr Moore is still alive
Mr Aldin claimed General Qassim Sulaimani, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC, now controlled the fate of Mr Moore, who was kidnapped by Shia militiamen posing as police officers.
''General Sulaimani effectively controls the revolutionary guard in Iraq who have Mr Moore," he said.
The centrist Iraqi politician who was born in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, which has close links with Iran's Shia Muslims, has campaigned against Iranian influence in Iraq.
He said David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, should raise Mr Moore's plight with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. British officials have privately cast doubt on Mr Moore's continued survival.
"The revolutionary guard have absolute control of him," said Mr Aldin. "Nobody knows exactly where he is but I am sure he's been in Tehran."
Mr Aldin warned the Iraqi government was incapable of securing Mr Moore's freedom because it was under the control of Iran. "The real danger in Iraq is Iran. It controls Iraq with a firm fist," he said.
"The Iranian regime will continue to be a problem with a nuclear weapon or not, with interference in Iraq or not.
"The problem is that the regime believes it represents God. If this goes unchecked, its influence will extend to Morocco."
Sunday, 13 December 2009
KIDNAPPED BRITON 'BEING HELD IN IRAN'
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/145741/Kidnapped-Briton-being-held-in-Iran-
Sunday December 13,2009
By James Murray and Hilary Douglas
BRITISH hostage Peter Moore is being held by kidnappers loyal to Iran’s revolutionary guard and his fate will be determined by an Iranian army general, it has been claimed.
The claims came from moderate Iraq MP Jamal Aldin, who said: “I understand from good sources he has been moved in and out of Iran.
“The revolutionary guard have absolute control of him. Nobody knows exactly where he is but I am sure he’s been in Tehran.” He said Foreign Secretary David Miliband should consider negotiating directly for his release with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The idea that Iran had a hand in the abduction of Mr Moore and four British bodyguards from a Baghdad office in May 2007 could have serious repercussions for international diplomacy.
In Britain last week, Mr Aldin, who is a marked man in Iraq and has survived six assassination attempts in five years, painted a disturbing picture of how his country is becoming a “satellite province” of Iran.
He said operations were run deep inside Iraq from the border base of Iranian general Kassim Sulaimani. ‘‘General Sulaimani effectively controls the revolutionary guard in Iraq who have Mr Moore.”
IT expert Mr Moore, 36, and his guards were snatched by a 40-strong gang posing as policemen.
Three bodies have so far been handed over to the British embassy, two in June and one in August.
Mr Moore is now believed to be the only hostage still alive.
Mr Aldin said the US is “complicit” in what is going on in Iraq, and deals directly with General Sulaimani. “They ask him to stop the Green Zone being mortared and it happens.
“The US knows Iran is poised to seize control of Iraq the second the allied troops leave Baghdad.”
He believes this is a greater threat than Iran’s nuclear programme. “Pakistan has a nuclear deterrent. It is a backward country, but you never had a problem with a nuclear threat from Pakistan. India, the same.”
Mr Moore’s father, Graham, frustrated by diplomatic efforts, is willing to speak to the kidnappers directly.
Sunday December 13,2009
By James Murray and Hilary Douglas
BRITISH hostage Peter Moore is being held by kidnappers loyal to Iran’s revolutionary guard and his fate will be determined by an Iranian army general, it has been claimed.
The claims came from moderate Iraq MP Jamal Aldin, who said: “I understand from good sources he has been moved in and out of Iran.
“The revolutionary guard have absolute control of him. Nobody knows exactly where he is but I am sure he’s been in Tehran.” He said Foreign Secretary David Miliband should consider negotiating directly for his release with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The idea that Iran had a hand in the abduction of Mr Moore and four British bodyguards from a Baghdad office in May 2007 could have serious repercussions for international diplomacy.
In Britain last week, Mr Aldin, who is a marked man in Iraq and has survived six assassination attempts in five years, painted a disturbing picture of how his country is becoming a “satellite province” of Iran.
He said operations were run deep inside Iraq from the border base of Iranian general Kassim Sulaimani. ‘‘General Sulaimani effectively controls the revolutionary guard in Iraq who have Mr Moore.”
IT expert Mr Moore, 36, and his guards were snatched by a 40-strong gang posing as policemen.
Three bodies have so far been handed over to the British embassy, two in June and one in August.
Mr Moore is now believed to be the only hostage still alive.
Mr Aldin said the US is “complicit” in what is going on in Iraq, and deals directly with General Sulaimani. “They ask him to stop the Green Zone being mortared and it happens.
“The US knows Iran is poised to seize control of Iraq the second the allied troops leave Baghdad.”
He believes this is a greater threat than Iran’s nuclear programme. “Pakistan has a nuclear deterrent. It is a backward country, but you never had a problem with a nuclear threat from Pakistan. India, the same.”
Mr Moore’s father, Graham, frustrated by diplomatic efforts, is willing to speak to the kidnappers directly.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
UK officials concerned over fate of British hostage Peter Moore
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/6703306/UK-officials-concerned-over-fate-of-British-hostage-Peter-Moore.html
British officials have warned prospects for the release of the computer consultant Peter Moore, held hostage in Iraq since 2007, have 'significantly diminished' in recent weeks.
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Published: 7:00AM GMT 02 Dec 2009
The warning was issued after talks that would have seen the kidnapping group hand over Mr Moore in return for the release of its leader and a role in Iraqi politics were reported on Tuesday to have collapsed.
The fate of Mr Moore, who is from Swindon, has been tied to the success of a reconciliation agreement in the run-up to Iraq's general election early next year.
Early stages of the negotiations resulted in the return of the remains of four British security guards kidnapped alongside Mr Moore at Baghdad's finance ministry in May 2007.
A senior member of League of the Righteous, the political wing of the terrorist gang thought to be holding Mr Moore in an Iranian-provided safehouse, revealed that its talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had floundered.
Negotiations over a pact would have seen Qais al-Khazali, the group's leader, released from the American-run Camp Crooper prison in Baghdad in return for Mr Moore's freedom.
"The negotiations with the government have stopped because we have not reached agreement and because they refuse to free Qais al-Khazali," said Salam al-Maliki, a former transport minister.
"For this reason, we will not participate in the upcoming elections."
A senior British official involved in efforts to resolve the crisis said the ending of the talks dealt a major blow to hopes for a successful outcome. "The talks were a lifeline in a situation were there were few options and even less hope," he said. "The signals have diminished to nothing and prospects are now slim to nil. It is not a promising outlook."
The British Government has not had direct contacts with the kidnappers. Instead it pinned its hope on assurances from the Iraqi government that the release of Mr Moore would be a condition of the rehabilitation of the Leagues.
Whitehall was left disappointed and angry when the bodies of the security guards were delivered this summer. Gordon Brown said he was confident that Mr Moore was still alive as recently as July.
Khazali's brother Laith was released from Camp Cropper inJune on the orders of Iraq's Committee for National Reconciliation. But the handover of remains damaged the trust between the group's negotiators and Mr Maliki. Diplomats said that further releases were viewed as the best opportunity to secure Mr Moore's return. "In quite a quiet situation, people had pinned their hopes on release dates planned for prisoners in Iraq," said a British official. "Otherwise its a constrant drip-drip of rumours all the hostages are dead."
Iraq is hoping to stage a general election before the end of March. The Leagues, which has its roots in Moqtada al-Sadr's populist Shia Muslim political movement, had been angling for a place on the electoral alliance formed around Mr Maliki.
The Foreign Office focused its efforts on securing the return of Mr Moore after British police confirmed the identity of the dead men.
The group is also suspected of being behind an attack in January 2007 that killed one US soldier and led to the abduction of four others. They too were later found dead.
British officials have warned prospects for the release of the computer consultant Peter Moore, held hostage in Iraq since 2007, have 'significantly diminished' in recent weeks.
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Published: 7:00AM GMT 02 Dec 2009
The warning was issued after talks that would have seen the kidnapping group hand over Mr Moore in return for the release of its leader and a role in Iraqi politics were reported on Tuesday to have collapsed.
The fate of Mr Moore, who is from Swindon, has been tied to the success of a reconciliation agreement in the run-up to Iraq's general election early next year.
Early stages of the negotiations resulted in the return of the remains of four British security guards kidnapped alongside Mr Moore at Baghdad's finance ministry in May 2007.
A senior member of League of the Righteous, the political wing of the terrorist gang thought to be holding Mr Moore in an Iranian-provided safehouse, revealed that its talks with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, had floundered.
Negotiations over a pact would have seen Qais al-Khazali, the group's leader, released from the American-run Camp Crooper prison in Baghdad in return for Mr Moore's freedom.
"The negotiations with the government have stopped because we have not reached agreement and because they refuse to free Qais al-Khazali," said Salam al-Maliki, a former transport minister.
"For this reason, we will not participate in the upcoming elections."
A senior British official involved in efforts to resolve the crisis said the ending of the talks dealt a major blow to hopes for a successful outcome. "The talks were a lifeline in a situation were there were few options and even less hope," he said. "The signals have diminished to nothing and prospects are now slim to nil. It is not a promising outlook."
The British Government has not had direct contacts with the kidnappers. Instead it pinned its hope on assurances from the Iraqi government that the release of Mr Moore would be a condition of the rehabilitation of the Leagues.
Whitehall was left disappointed and angry when the bodies of the security guards were delivered this summer. Gordon Brown said he was confident that Mr Moore was still alive as recently as July.
Khazali's brother Laith was released from Camp Cropper inJune on the orders of Iraq's Committee for National Reconciliation. But the handover of remains damaged the trust between the group's negotiators and Mr Maliki. Diplomats said that further releases were viewed as the best opportunity to secure Mr Moore's return. "In quite a quiet situation, people had pinned their hopes on release dates planned for prisoners in Iraq," said a British official. "Otherwise its a constrant drip-drip of rumours all the hostages are dead."
Iraq is hoping to stage a general election before the end of March. The Leagues, which has its roots in Moqtada al-Sadr's populist Shia Muslim political movement, had been angling for a place on the electoral alliance formed around Mr Maliki.
The Foreign Office focused its efforts on securing the return of Mr Moore after British police confirmed the identity of the dead men.
The group is also suspected of being behind an attack in January 2007 that killed one US soldier and led to the abduction of four others. They too were later found dead.
Iraqi kidnappers abandon govt talks
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g6B50ws38WMquqlnpJcTofWPIJHw
NAJAF, Iraq — The radical Shiite group that kidnapped five Britons in Baghdad more than two years ago said on Tuesday it had broken off talks with Iraq's government over integration into the political process.
The talks began four months ago when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met members of the League of the Righteous, which has renounced violence, but collapsed because the government refused to free the group's leader from jail, one of its senior members told AFP.
"The negotiations with the government have stopped because we have not reached agreement and because they refuse to free Qais al-Khazaali," Salam al-Maliki, a former transport minister, said.
"For this reason, we will not participate in the upcoming elections," he added of parliamentary elections slated for next year, but whose precise date has not yet been finalised.
Khazaali is being held at a US detention facility in Camp Cropper on Baghdad's outskirts.
In March, the League of the Righteous said it would release the five Britons it had kidnapped in exchange for 10 of its leaders being held by American forces in Iraq.
Since then, four of the Britons have been confirmed dead, with only IT consultant Peter Moore believed to be still alive.
The group kidnapped the five from the finance ministry in Baghdad in May 2007, in an audacious operation by around 40 heavily armed militants posing as security personnel.
The League of the Righteous is made up of militants who broke away from the Mahdi army, the formerly armed militia group loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The group is also suspected of being behind an attack in January 2007 that killed one US soldier and led to the abduction of four others. They too were later found dead.
On April 1, Iraq's Committee for National Reconciliation said it had begun talks with the League of the Righteous, but did not make any specific mention of the hostages.
NAJAF, Iraq — The radical Shiite group that kidnapped five Britons in Baghdad more than two years ago said on Tuesday it had broken off talks with Iraq's government over integration into the political process.
The talks began four months ago when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met members of the League of the Righteous, which has renounced violence, but collapsed because the government refused to free the group's leader from jail, one of its senior members told AFP.
"The negotiations with the government have stopped because we have not reached agreement and because they refuse to free Qais al-Khazaali," Salam al-Maliki, a former transport minister, said.
"For this reason, we will not participate in the upcoming elections," he added of parliamentary elections slated for next year, but whose precise date has not yet been finalised.
Khazaali is being held at a US detention facility in Camp Cropper on Baghdad's outskirts.
In March, the League of the Righteous said it would release the five Britons it had kidnapped in exchange for 10 of its leaders being held by American forces in Iraq.
Since then, four of the Britons have been confirmed dead, with only IT consultant Peter Moore believed to be still alive.
The group kidnapped the five from the finance ministry in Baghdad in May 2007, in an audacious operation by around 40 heavily armed militants posing as security personnel.
The League of the Righteous is made up of militants who broke away from the Mahdi army, the formerly armed militia group loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The group is also suspected of being behind an attack in January 2007 that killed one US soldier and led to the abduction of four others. They too were later found dead.
On April 1, Iraq's Committee for National Reconciliation said it had begun talks with the League of the Righteous, but did not make any specific mention of the hostages.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Kidnapped IT worker 'still alive' says Baghdad vicar
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Kidnapped-worker-alive-says-Baghdad-vicar/article-1469263-detail/article.html
The vicar helping to negotiate the release of a kidnapped IT worker in Iraq believes he is still alive.
Canon Andrew White leads the only Anglican church in Baghdad and came to Leicester last night to give a lecture.
Canon White is parish priest to more than 3,000 people at St Georges Church in Iraq and has been involved in trying to secure the release of kidnapped IT worker Peter Moore, 36, whose father Graeme lives in Wigston.
He was one of five hostages taken by armed men at the finance ministry in Baghdad on May 29, 2007.
The bodies of three of the hostages were received by officials earlier this year. Mr Moore and Canon White say they have received information which suggests Peter is being held alive.
Canon White said: "I can't really talk about what I have been doing with Peter's release, all I can say is I'm very involved and I'm not without hope.
"There are two of them who I believe are still alive, which is Peter and Alan McMenemy."
On Sunday, the vicar received the news that his church was one of a group of buildings blown up in a bomb blast which killed 153 people.
Among the dead were colleagues of Canon White.
He said: "I was on the way to London when somebody called to say what had happened.
"Every day I feel like I can't move things forward but you have to keep going, it's very easy to give up but you would leave thousands of people desperate."
Delivery driver Graeme Moore, 59, could not attend the lecture last night but said: "One of my contacts told me on Saturday that they were holding Peter on this own but that he was alive."
Canon White gave the 2009 Provost Derek Hole annual public lecture at the University of Leicester. His talk, The Inter-religious Search For Peace In Iraq, spoke about the delicate relationships between different religious leaders in the country.
The vicar helping to negotiate the release of a kidnapped IT worker in Iraq believes he is still alive.
Canon Andrew White leads the only Anglican church in Baghdad and came to Leicester last night to give a lecture.
Canon White is parish priest to more than 3,000 people at St Georges Church in Iraq and has been involved in trying to secure the release of kidnapped IT worker Peter Moore, 36, whose father Graeme lives in Wigston.
He was one of five hostages taken by armed men at the finance ministry in Baghdad on May 29, 2007.
The bodies of three of the hostages were received by officials earlier this year. Mr Moore and Canon White say they have received information which suggests Peter is being held alive.
Canon White said: "I can't really talk about what I have been doing with Peter's release, all I can say is I'm very involved and I'm not without hope.
"There are two of them who I believe are still alive, which is Peter and Alan McMenemy."
On Sunday, the vicar received the news that his church was one of a group of buildings blown up in a bomb blast which killed 153 people.
Among the dead were colleagues of Canon White.
He said: "I was on the way to London when somebody called to say what had happened.
"Every day I feel like I can't move things forward but you have to keep going, it's very easy to give up but you would leave thousands of people desperate."
Delivery driver Graeme Moore, 59, could not attend the lecture last night but said: "One of my contacts told me on Saturday that they were holding Peter on this own but that he was alive."
Canon White gave the 2009 Provost Derek Hole annual public lecture at the University of Leicester. His talk, The Inter-religious Search For Peace In Iraq, spoke about the delicate relationships between different religious leaders in the country.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Over 100 from Iraqi group who killed Britons freed
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gXyQbbLIEpFjcHkXJ2J_QyIrHF3A
BAGHDAD — More than 100 Iraqi Shiite insurgents whose organisation kidnapped five Britons and killed at least three of them have been released from prison in the past week, the group said on Sunday.
"I can confirm the release of a number of our group last night... 23 were freed yesterday," Salam al-Maliki, a spokesman for the League of the Righteous, told AFP.
"Eighty-seven of our group were released last week, and 120 are supposed to be freed this week."
Maliki said the releases "came as part of negotiations we are holding with the Iraqi government."
The League of the Righteous was behind the kidnap of British IT expert Peter Moore and his four bodyguards from the finance ministry in Baghdad in May 2007.
The bodies of two bodyguards, Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39, were handed over to Britain in June this year.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned the following month that the two other bodyguards, Alan McMenemy and Alec MacLachlan, were "very likely" dead. The latter's body was handed over to Britain earlier this month.
The League of the Righteous is also suspected of being behind an attack in January 2007 that killed one US soldier and led to the abduction of four others, all of whom were later found dead.
"At the request of the government of Iraq and pursuant to the bilateral Iraq-US security agreement, the US released the detainees to guarantors provided by the government of Iraq," US Captain Brad Kimberly told AFP.
"The release was facilitated by the government of Iraq as part of its efforts toward national unity."
Kimberly declined to specify how many members of the group were released or give details of individual detainees.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Baghdad told AFP that Britain was not negotiating with the group for Moore's release.
BAGHDAD — More than 100 Iraqi Shiite insurgents whose organisation kidnapped five Britons and killed at least three of them have been released from prison in the past week, the group said on Sunday.
"I can confirm the release of a number of our group last night... 23 were freed yesterday," Salam al-Maliki, a spokesman for the League of the Righteous, told AFP.
"Eighty-seven of our group were released last week, and 120 are supposed to be freed this week."
Maliki said the releases "came as part of negotiations we are holding with the Iraqi government."
The League of the Righteous was behind the kidnap of British IT expert Peter Moore and his four bodyguards from the finance ministry in Baghdad in May 2007.
The bodies of two bodyguards, Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39, were handed over to Britain in June this year.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned the following month that the two other bodyguards, Alan McMenemy and Alec MacLachlan, were "very likely" dead. The latter's body was handed over to Britain earlier this month.
The League of the Righteous is also suspected of being behind an attack in January 2007 that killed one US soldier and led to the abduction of four others, all of whom were later found dead.
"At the request of the government of Iraq and pursuant to the bilateral Iraq-US security agreement, the US released the detainees to guarantors provided by the government of Iraq," US Captain Brad Kimberly told AFP.
"The release was facilitated by the government of Iraq as part of its efforts toward national unity."
Kimberly declined to specify how many members of the group were released or give details of individual detainees.
A spokesman for the British Embassy in Baghdad told AFP that Britain was not negotiating with the group for Moore's release.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Iraq body confirmed as UK hostage
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8236730.stm
A body handed to UK authorities in Iraq has been identified as that of Alec MacLachlan - one of five British men seized in Baghdad in 2007.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed the 30-year-old security guard, of Llanelli, south Wales, had died.
Two of the five hostages' bodies were returned in June. The families of two others were told to expect the worst.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband says he believes the fifth man - IT consultant Peter Moore - is alive.
Mr Miliband earlier appealed to the men's captors.
"I renew my call, on behalf of the British government and the British people, to those holding the hostages to return them to their loved ones," he said.
Obscure militia
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said Metropolitan Police forensic specialists sent to Iraq had identified the body within 24 hours of it being delivered to the British embassy.
It is believed the hostage-takers killed four of the men some time ago, our correspondent added, and efforts were now concentrating on releasing Mr Moore.
Clockwise from top left: Alan McMenemy, Peter Moore, Alec Maclachlan, Jason Swindlehurst, Jason Creswell
Mr Moore, from Lincoln, had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq when he was captured.
The other men, including Mr MacLachlan and Alan McMenemy, of Glasgow, were security contractors employed to guard him.
The group was seized at Baghdad's Ministry of Finance in May 2007 by about 40 men disguised as Iraqi policemen.
The captors were understood to belong to an obscure militia known as Islamic Shia Resistance in Iraq, which has demanded the release of up to nine of their associates held in US military custody since early 2007.
The Foreign Office insists the British government has not been directly involved in negotiations and that the Iraqi authorities have been acting as lead negotiator.
Little is known about the captives because of a media blackout during a large period of their captivity. The hostage-takers had said they did not want publicity.
The hostage crisis has been Britain's longest for nearly 20 years.
A body handed to UK authorities in Iraq has been identified as that of Alec MacLachlan - one of five British men seized in Baghdad in 2007.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed the 30-year-old security guard, of Llanelli, south Wales, had died.
Two of the five hostages' bodies were returned in June. The families of two others were told to expect the worst.
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband says he believes the fifth man - IT consultant Peter Moore - is alive.
Mr Miliband earlier appealed to the men's captors.
"I renew my call, on behalf of the British government and the British people, to those holding the hostages to return them to their loved ones," he said.
Obscure militia
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said Metropolitan Police forensic specialists sent to Iraq had identified the body within 24 hours of it being delivered to the British embassy.
It is believed the hostage-takers killed four of the men some time ago, our correspondent added, and efforts were now concentrating on releasing Mr Moore.
Clockwise from top left: Alan McMenemy, Peter Moore, Alec Maclachlan, Jason Swindlehurst, Jason Creswell
Mr Moore, from Lincoln, had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq when he was captured.
The other men, including Mr MacLachlan and Alan McMenemy, of Glasgow, were security contractors employed to guard him.
The group was seized at Baghdad's Ministry of Finance in May 2007 by about 40 men disguised as Iraqi policemen.
The captors were understood to belong to an obscure militia known as Islamic Shia Resistance in Iraq, which has demanded the release of up to nine of their associates held in US military custody since early 2007.
The Foreign Office insists the British government has not been directly involved in negotiations and that the Iraqi authorities have been acting as lead negotiator.
Little is known about the captives because of a media blackout during a large period of their captivity. The hostage-takers had said they did not want publicity.
The hostage crisis has been Britain's longest for nearly 20 years.
Body of British hostage given to Iraq authorities
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/02/body-third-british-hostage-iraq
Remains of third hostage not yet formally identified
Only one of five kidnapped men is thought to be alive
The body of a third British hostage in Iraq was today delivered to Iraqi officials in an apparent step closer to freedom for the only one of five kidnapped Britons now thought to be alive, the computer programmer Peter Moore.
The Iraqi army and a security company retained by the British embassy received the remains around midday. The body is believed to be that of either Alec Maclachlan, from Llanelli, Wales, or Alan McMenemy, from Dumbarton, Scotland.
The families of both men were told in August that they had almost certainly been killed.
The two, who worked for the Canadian security firm GardaWorld, were captured in Baghdad in 2007, along with fellow security guards Jason Swindlehurst and Jason Creswell – whose bodies were found in June this year – and the man they were guarding, IT consultant Peter Moore.
All five men were seized in May 2007 from the finance ministry by dozens of men wearing national police uniform and driving a convoy of police fleet vehicles.
A Downing Street spokesman tonight said that Gordon Brown was "deeply saddened" by the news. "A process is now under way to urgently establish identity.
"The prime minister's thoughts are with their families at this extremely difficult time," the spokesman said.
In a statement, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, said the government remained in "close contact" with those in Iraq who could be able to help secure the release of the hostages. "Our cross-government effort by teams in London and Baghdad continues unabated," he said.
Today's body was retrieved three months after the remains of Swindlehurst and Creswell were delivered to the embassy in a similar fashion.
Tonight Moore's father, Graham, 59, said: "Until we confirm who it is, we're just in suspense". Speaking from his home in Wigston, Leicestershire, he said they were holding out hope the body was not that of his son. He said: "There's always that little bit of uncertainty, but the information that has come out of Iraq suggested that they separated Peter from the others early on. I dare say we won't be sleeping well tonight."
British police forensic officers working in Iraq were tonight trying to establish the identity of the body. The victim is thought to have been shot.
An official involved in protracted mediation efforts between the Iraqi government and the kidnappers, who are a Shia Islamic militia with political aspirations, known as the Righteous League, night confirmed that the release of the third body was a step towards Moore's release.
There has been no word on Moore's fate since a DVD was handed over to Iraqi officials earlier this year showing him alive. However, the official said the hostage takers had assured the Iraqi government that he was alive. "I am sure about this," he said. "And so are other people involved in the discussions."
Miliband's statement tonight also said the British authorities believe Moore is still alive.
The release of the third body had been widely anticipated since members of the Righteous League were hosted by the Iraqi prime minister, Nour al-Maliki, in July. The group, which has strong links to the Lebanese Hezbollah, has been campaigning for political legitimacy in the run-up to national elections in January.Britain has maintained a policy of not negotiating with the hostage takers and moves towards the release of the captives have been handled by Iraqi mediators, who have attempted to convince them that legitimacy will remain out of reach as long as they hold hostages.
In one positive sign, the group promised in August to lay down its weapons and join the political process. Over the past three months, up to 15 high-profile members of the Righteous League have been freed from American custody in Iraq.
The group had earlier demanded that the released of the British captives be tied to a prisoner release. However, Britain, Iraq and the US have been anxious to avoid such a perception. "There is no direct swap between the hostages and the prisoners," the official said. "However there are expectations tied into the process."
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Prime Minister Gordon Brown "will leave no stone unturned in the government's efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages."
The bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, 38 and Jason Creswell, 39, were returned in June. It is not clear exactly how they died, though both had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Hopes for the Britons rose in June following the release of Laith al-Khazali, a Shiite militant who had been held in U.S. custody. The kidnappers have demanded the release of militiamen including al-Khazali's brother, Qais al-Khazali, in exchange for the British hostages.
But Kim Howells, an ex-British minister for the Middle East and previously involved in the case, has said that since leaving his post, he has questioned whether Britain had been negotiating with the right people. Attempts to win the release of the Britons have been hampered by dealings with middlemen.
• This article was amended on Thursday 3 September 2009. We said the body was believed to be that of either Alan Maclachlan, from Dumbarton, Scotland, or Alec McMenemy, from Glasgow. It is in fact believed to be that of either Alec Maclachlan, from Llanelli, Wales, or Alan McMenemy, from Dumbarton, Scotland. This has been corrected.
Remains of third hostage not yet formally identified
Only one of five kidnapped men is thought to be alive
The body of a third British hostage in Iraq was today delivered to Iraqi officials in an apparent step closer to freedom for the only one of five kidnapped Britons now thought to be alive, the computer programmer Peter Moore.
The Iraqi army and a security company retained by the British embassy received the remains around midday. The body is believed to be that of either Alec Maclachlan, from Llanelli, Wales, or Alan McMenemy, from Dumbarton, Scotland.
The families of both men were told in August that they had almost certainly been killed.
The two, who worked for the Canadian security firm GardaWorld, were captured in Baghdad in 2007, along with fellow security guards Jason Swindlehurst and Jason Creswell – whose bodies were found in June this year – and the man they were guarding, IT consultant Peter Moore.
All five men were seized in May 2007 from the finance ministry by dozens of men wearing national police uniform and driving a convoy of police fleet vehicles.
A Downing Street spokesman tonight said that Gordon Brown was "deeply saddened" by the news. "A process is now under way to urgently establish identity.
"The prime minister's thoughts are with their families at this extremely difficult time," the spokesman said.
In a statement, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, said the government remained in "close contact" with those in Iraq who could be able to help secure the release of the hostages. "Our cross-government effort by teams in London and Baghdad continues unabated," he said.
Today's body was retrieved three months after the remains of Swindlehurst and Creswell were delivered to the embassy in a similar fashion.
Tonight Moore's father, Graham, 59, said: "Until we confirm who it is, we're just in suspense". Speaking from his home in Wigston, Leicestershire, he said they were holding out hope the body was not that of his son. He said: "There's always that little bit of uncertainty, but the information that has come out of Iraq suggested that they separated Peter from the others early on. I dare say we won't be sleeping well tonight."
British police forensic officers working in Iraq were tonight trying to establish the identity of the body. The victim is thought to have been shot.
An official involved in protracted mediation efforts between the Iraqi government and the kidnappers, who are a Shia Islamic militia with political aspirations, known as the Righteous League, night confirmed that the release of the third body was a step towards Moore's release.
There has been no word on Moore's fate since a DVD was handed over to Iraqi officials earlier this year showing him alive. However, the official said the hostage takers had assured the Iraqi government that he was alive. "I am sure about this," he said. "And so are other people involved in the discussions."
Miliband's statement tonight also said the British authorities believe Moore is still alive.
The release of the third body had been widely anticipated since members of the Righteous League were hosted by the Iraqi prime minister, Nour al-Maliki, in July. The group, which has strong links to the Lebanese Hezbollah, has been campaigning for political legitimacy in the run-up to national elections in January.Britain has maintained a policy of not negotiating with the hostage takers and moves towards the release of the captives have been handled by Iraqi mediators, who have attempted to convince them that legitimacy will remain out of reach as long as they hold hostages.
In one positive sign, the group promised in August to lay down its weapons and join the political process. Over the past three months, up to 15 high-profile members of the Righteous League have been freed from American custody in Iraq.
The group had earlier demanded that the released of the British captives be tied to a prisoner release. However, Britain, Iraq and the US have been anxious to avoid such a perception. "There is no direct swap between the hostages and the prisoners," the official said. "However there are expectations tied into the process."
A Downing Street spokeswoman said Prime Minister Gordon Brown "will leave no stone unturned in the government's efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages."
The bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, 38 and Jason Creswell, 39, were returned in June. It is not clear exactly how they died, though both had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Hopes for the Britons rose in June following the release of Laith al-Khazali, a Shiite militant who had been held in U.S. custody. The kidnappers have demanded the release of militiamen including al-Khazali's brother, Qais al-Khazali, in exchange for the British hostages.
But Kim Howells, an ex-British minister for the Middle East and previously involved in the case, has said that since leaving his post, he has questioned whether Britain had been negotiating with the right people. Attempts to win the release of the Britons have been hampered by dealings with middlemen.
• This article was amended on Thursday 3 September 2009. We said the body was believed to be that of either Alan Maclachlan, from Dumbarton, Scotland, or Alec McMenemy, from Glasgow. It is in fact believed to be that of either Alec Maclachlan, from Llanelli, Wales, or Alan McMenemy, from Dumbarton, Scotland. This has been corrected.
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
US helps reconciliation of Iraqi groups with prisoner release
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article6801297.ece
Britain has always been relatively powerless to resolve its longest-running hostage crisis in two decades because the United States holds the trump cards.
Its decision to release all members of Asaib al-Haq demonstrates the changed political landscape in Iraq, where the Government is trying to reach out to former militant groups and bring them back into the fold, while the US is trying to wind down operations and pull out of the country.
Asaib al-Haq, or the League of the Righteous, is an extremist Shia group that broke away from the Mahdi Army — the largest Shia militia in Iraq — led by Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric.
It was regarded by the American military as an Iranian-backed “special group” that continued to use violence even after Hojatoleslam al-Sadr ordered his followers to lay down their arms. Iran denies involvement in militia activity in Iraq.
Asaib al-Haq now appears to want to become involved in the political process.
Representatives of the group met Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, recently. They declared that they had renounced violence and wanted to discuss closer political co-operation with Baghdad.
This reconciliation process coincides with a pledge by the US military to hand over all its detainees to the Iraqi authorities for release or prosecution as part of a security agreement with Baghdad.
That even includes high-value suspects such as Qais al-Khazali, a leader of Asaib al-Haq, who is accused of involvement in an ambush in early 2007 in which five US troops were killed.
The key to the release of Peter Moore and the bodies of his two guards will be the freeing of Mr al-Khazali, the most high-profile figure in US detention linked to the kidnap group.
Eight other men, including a member of the Lebanese Hezbollah, are also on the list of detainees whose release is being demanded by Asaib al-Haq.
The kidnappers have shown already that they respond when their demands are met. The bodies of two other security guards were handed over to the British Embassy only days after a tenth detainee requested by the gang was delivered in June to the Iraqi authorities, who set him free.
Britain has always been relatively powerless to resolve its longest-running hostage crisis in two decades because the United States holds the trump cards.
Its decision to release all members of Asaib al-Haq demonstrates the changed political landscape in Iraq, where the Government is trying to reach out to former militant groups and bring them back into the fold, while the US is trying to wind down operations and pull out of the country.
Asaib al-Haq, or the League of the Righteous, is an extremist Shia group that broke away from the Mahdi Army — the largest Shia militia in Iraq — led by Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric.
It was regarded by the American military as an Iranian-backed “special group” that continued to use violence even after Hojatoleslam al-Sadr ordered his followers to lay down their arms. Iran denies involvement in militia activity in Iraq.
Asaib al-Haq now appears to want to become involved in the political process.
Representatives of the group met Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, recently. They declared that they had renounced violence and wanted to discuss closer political co-operation with Baghdad.
This reconciliation process coincides with a pledge by the US military to hand over all its detainees to the Iraqi authorities for release or prosecution as part of a security agreement with Baghdad.
That even includes high-value suspects such as Qais al-Khazali, a leader of Asaib al-Haq, who is accused of involvement in an ambush in early 2007 in which five US troops were killed.
The key to the release of Peter Moore and the bodies of his two guards will be the freeing of Mr al-Khazali, the most high-profile figure in US detention linked to the kidnap group.
Eight other men, including a member of the Lebanese Hezbollah, are also on the list of detainees whose release is being demanded by Asaib al-Haq.
The kidnappers have shown already that they respond when their demands are met. The bodies of two other security guards were handed over to the British Embassy only days after a tenth detainee requested by the gang was delivered in June to the Iraqi authorities, who set him free.
US to release members of Iraqi group that kidnapped five Britons
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article6801281.ece
The US military is to release all detainees linked to a Shia extremist group that kidnapped five British men two years ago. Four of the hostages are thought to be dead.
General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, plans to release all members of Asaib al-Haq — League of the Righteous — as part of what he called a wider reconciliation process in the divided country. The number of detained group members is believed to be between 300 and 400.
The bodies of two of the British hostages have been recovered but Peter Moore, a computer consultant, is the only captive who might still be alive.
The main demand of the kidnap group has been the release of ten people held in US detention. The latest move by the US could lead to the release of Mr Moore, if he is still alive, and the handing over of the missing bodies.
Six months ago a video of an apparently healthy Mr Moore was released. In February 2008 another video featuring him was aired by the al-Arabiya television channel, which is based in Dubai. In it he called on Gordon Brown to free the Iraqis in return for the hostages’ freedom.
“This is about reconciliation,” General Odierno said. “We believe Asaib al-Haq has taken initial steps to reconcile with the Government of Iraq.”
He said that active group members were observing a ceasefire and “they have begun to turn in heavy weapons or at least to consolidate heavy weapons that they have”.
The US military is committed to handing over all those in its custody to the Iraqi authorities for prosecution or release by next year as part of a security agreement. Thousands have been released but the main obstacle to releasing members of Asaib al-Haq has been their alleged involvement in attacks on US troops.
The US military had hoped to prosecute anyone who attacked its troops through the Iraqi judicial system but in many cases officials were unable to do so.
“We have to have evidence,” General Odierno told The New York Times. “There’s intelligence \ there’s evidence. Those are two completely different things.” He insisted that “anybody who has blood on their hands will be tried in Iraqi courts” but had to concede that no such moves were currently under way.
The first sign that a mass release might be possible came this year with the freeing of Laith al-Khazali, whose brother Qais al-Khazali is believed to have planned an attack that killed five US soldiers in the southern city of Karbala in 2007. Qais al-Khazali is still in detention.
It is unclear how much longer the remaining detainees will have to wait. The US military holds 9,500 Iraqis at Camp Bucca, a detention facility near Basra that is scheduled to be closed in four weeks. The remaining detainees will be transferred to two other centres.
Representatives of Asaib al-Haq met Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, this month and reiterated their pledge to maintain a ceasefire. Ali Faisal al-Lami, a senior member, said that he had agreed the “final resolution” of the hostage crisis with Mr al-Maliki.
Mr Moore and his four bodyguards were kidnapped by about 40 heavily armed men posing as security personnel in May 2007.
On June 20 the bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39, were handed to the British Embassy. Last month Mr Brown said that the other guards, Alan McMenemy and Alec MacLachlan, were “very likely” to be dead. The Prime Minister said that he believed Mr Moore was still alive.
The US military is to release all detainees linked to a Shia extremist group that kidnapped five British men two years ago. Four of the hostages are thought to be dead.
General Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, plans to release all members of Asaib al-Haq — League of the Righteous — as part of what he called a wider reconciliation process in the divided country. The number of detained group members is believed to be between 300 and 400.
The bodies of two of the British hostages have been recovered but Peter Moore, a computer consultant, is the only captive who might still be alive.
The main demand of the kidnap group has been the release of ten people held in US detention. The latest move by the US could lead to the release of Mr Moore, if he is still alive, and the handing over of the missing bodies.
Six months ago a video of an apparently healthy Mr Moore was released. In February 2008 another video featuring him was aired by the al-Arabiya television channel, which is based in Dubai. In it he called on Gordon Brown to free the Iraqis in return for the hostages’ freedom.
“This is about reconciliation,” General Odierno said. “We believe Asaib al-Haq has taken initial steps to reconcile with the Government of Iraq.”
He said that active group members were observing a ceasefire and “they have begun to turn in heavy weapons or at least to consolidate heavy weapons that they have”.
The US military is committed to handing over all those in its custody to the Iraqi authorities for prosecution or release by next year as part of a security agreement. Thousands have been released but the main obstacle to releasing members of Asaib al-Haq has been their alleged involvement in attacks on US troops.
The US military had hoped to prosecute anyone who attacked its troops through the Iraqi judicial system but in many cases officials were unable to do so.
“We have to have evidence,” General Odierno told The New York Times. “There’s intelligence \ there’s evidence. Those are two completely different things.” He insisted that “anybody who has blood on their hands will be tried in Iraqi courts” but had to concede that no such moves were currently under way.
The first sign that a mass release might be possible came this year with the freeing of Laith al-Khazali, whose brother Qais al-Khazali is believed to have planned an attack that killed five US soldiers in the southern city of Karbala in 2007. Qais al-Khazali is still in detention.
It is unclear how much longer the remaining detainees will have to wait. The US military holds 9,500 Iraqis at Camp Bucca, a detention facility near Basra that is scheduled to be closed in four weeks. The remaining detainees will be transferred to two other centres.
Representatives of Asaib al-Haq met Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, this month and reiterated their pledge to maintain a ceasefire. Ali Faisal al-Lami, a senior member, said that he had agreed the “final resolution” of the hostage crisis with Mr al-Maliki.
Mr Moore and his four bodyguards were kidnapped by about 40 heavily armed men posing as security personnel in May 2007.
On June 20 the bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39, were handed to the British Embassy. Last month Mr Brown said that the other guards, Alan McMenemy and Alec MacLachlan, were “very likely” to be dead. The Prime Minister said that he believed Mr Moore was still alive.
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
3 august 2009 - Iraqi Group Renounces Violence
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/world/middleeast/04iraq.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=Shiite%20Group%20Agrees%20to%20Renounce%20Violence%20in%20Iraq&st=cse
AGHDAD — An extremist Shiite group that has boasted of killing five American soldiers and of kidnapping five British contractors has agreed to renounce violence against fellow Iraqis, after meeting with Iraq’s prime minister.
The prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, met with members of the group, Asa’ib al-Haq, or the League of the Righteous, over the weekend, said Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister, confirming reports. “They decided they are no longer using violence, and we welcome them,” he said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Dabbagh first revealed the negotiations in remarks on Monday to Al Iraqiya, the state television network. “We have reached an agreement to resolve all problems, especially regarding detainees who do not have Iraqi blood on their hands,” he said. He did not say anything about British victims of the group.
Asked about that later, he added, “Whether it’s British blood or American blood, it is a violation of the law, and we will treat them no differently.”
Salam al-Maliki, the insurgent group’s liaison to the government, said in a telephone interview that the group had not renounced fighting the Americans. “Of course we want to get into the political process, because circumstances have improved, and the United States is out right now,” said Mr. Maliki, who is not related to the prime minister. “We told the government anyone who has Iraqi blood on their hands, you should keep him in jail. We are only fighting the United States.”
Asked about the British hostages, Mr. Maliki said that their status had not been discussed.
Mr. Dabbagh also said that the British hostages had not been discussed. “We cannot negotiate with the kidnappers,” he said. Referring to the hostages, he added, “We do support them coming home safely.”
American officials released the leader of the group, Laith al-Khazali, from detention in June in a move interpreted widely as part of an exchange for some British hostages. Instead, two of the hostages’ bodies were found June 20, and the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said two others were probably dead. A fifth hostage, Peter Moore, is believed to be alive, Mr. Brown said.
In the past week, two other members of the insurgent group, from Basra and Baghdad, were released from American detention, according to followers of Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric. Another senior member, Sheikh Abdel Hadi al-Daraji, was released in June.
Asa’ib al-Haq’s leaders were detained after their followers dressed as Iraqi police officers and made a surprise attack in Karbala, killing five American soldiers in 2007. In retaliation, the group seized the five Britons.
They were kidnapped from the Iraqi Finance Ministry, where they had worked. Recently, Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said that the kidnapping must have had support from within the ministry.
The insurgent group broke away from Mr. Sadr last year, after he declared a truce with the Shiite government. American military officials say the group is supported by Iran.
Officials at the British and American Embassies had no immediate comment. The American military referred requests for information to the Iraqi authorities.
Elsewhere, three Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were killed in the Mosul area in four attacks on Monday, according to a source within the police there who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Separately, bombs hidden on two passenger buses going through Hilla, south of Baghdad, exploded, according to a source in the Interior Ministry.
In one of the attacks, 5 people died and 21 were wounded on the bus, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly. In the second attack, one person was killed and five were wounded.
However, police and hospital officials in Hilla said three people had died in the two bombings.
In Saqlawiya, a town north of Falluja, a bomb in a car exploded in a market area, killing two people and wounding seven, according to the police in the area.
Reporting was contributed by Duraid Adnan and Sam Dagher in Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times in Hilla, Baghdad, Falluja and Mosul.
AGHDAD — An extremist Shiite group that has boasted of killing five American soldiers and of kidnapping five British contractors has agreed to renounce violence against fellow Iraqis, after meeting with Iraq’s prime minister.
The prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, met with members of the group, Asa’ib al-Haq, or the League of the Righteous, over the weekend, said Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister, confirming reports. “They decided they are no longer using violence, and we welcome them,” he said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Dabbagh first revealed the negotiations in remarks on Monday to Al Iraqiya, the state television network. “We have reached an agreement to resolve all problems, especially regarding detainees who do not have Iraqi blood on their hands,” he said. He did not say anything about British victims of the group.
Asked about that later, he added, “Whether it’s British blood or American blood, it is a violation of the law, and we will treat them no differently.”
Salam al-Maliki, the insurgent group’s liaison to the government, said in a telephone interview that the group had not renounced fighting the Americans. “Of course we want to get into the political process, because circumstances have improved, and the United States is out right now,” said Mr. Maliki, who is not related to the prime minister. “We told the government anyone who has Iraqi blood on their hands, you should keep him in jail. We are only fighting the United States.”
Asked about the British hostages, Mr. Maliki said that their status had not been discussed.
Mr. Dabbagh also said that the British hostages had not been discussed. “We cannot negotiate with the kidnappers,” he said. Referring to the hostages, he added, “We do support them coming home safely.”
American officials released the leader of the group, Laith al-Khazali, from detention in June in a move interpreted widely as part of an exchange for some British hostages. Instead, two of the hostages’ bodies were found June 20, and the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said two others were probably dead. A fifth hostage, Peter Moore, is believed to be alive, Mr. Brown said.
In the past week, two other members of the insurgent group, from Basra and Baghdad, were released from American detention, according to followers of Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric. Another senior member, Sheikh Abdel Hadi al-Daraji, was released in June.
Asa’ib al-Haq’s leaders were detained after their followers dressed as Iraqi police officers and made a surprise attack in Karbala, killing five American soldiers in 2007. In retaliation, the group seized the five Britons.
They were kidnapped from the Iraqi Finance Ministry, where they had worked. Recently, Iraq’s national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said that the kidnapping must have had support from within the ministry.
The insurgent group broke away from Mr. Sadr last year, after he declared a truce with the Shiite government. American military officials say the group is supported by Iran.
Officials at the British and American Embassies had no immediate comment. The American military referred requests for information to the Iraqi authorities.
Elsewhere, three Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were killed in the Mosul area in four attacks on Monday, according to a source within the police there who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Separately, bombs hidden on two passenger buses going through Hilla, south of Baghdad, exploded, according to a source in the Interior Ministry.
In one of the attacks, 5 people died and 21 were wounded on the bus, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly. In the second attack, one person was killed and five were wounded.
However, police and hospital officials in Hilla said three people had died in the two bombings.
In Saqlawiya, a town north of Falluja, a bomb in a car exploded in a market area, killing two people and wounding seven, according to the police in the area.
Reporting was contributed by Duraid Adnan and Sam Dagher in Baghdad, and Iraqi employees of The New York Times in Hilla, Baghdad, Falluja and Mosul.
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