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.