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| Iraq |
| Militants claim deal struck to free Britons kidnapped in Iraq |
| 2009-03-28 |
| It was reported last night that Peter Moore, a computer programmer, and four security guards who have been held for almost two years, would gain their freedom in a prisoner swap arrangement. The Government refused to comment on the claims. The British embassy in Baghdad confirmed last week that it had received a proof of life video of Mr Moore from the kidnappers. Officials have concluded that the men were moved to Iran late last year. The group claimed that it had secured the freedom of 10 prominent Shia Muslim militants from US custody in Iraq. One of the men, Qais al Khazali, the group's leader, had been accused of murdering five US soldiers in a raid on an army base near the city of Karbala in 2007. Iranian op to capture US hostages after US forces arrested a bunch of Iranian operatives His brother Laith and Ali Mousawi Dakdouk, a Lebanese Hezbollah figure, were also reportedly included in the phased release agreement. Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, has recently stepped up his involvement in talks to free the men. He is believed to want the men, who were seized from the ministry of finance in Baghdad in May, 2007, to be freed before British troops withdraw from southern Iraq in a few months. However, there was no official confirmation that the men would be released. "We've seen similar reports," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "This is a sensitive case. We are not going to comment on one media report on alleged remarks by people claiming to be hostage takers. |
| Posted by:ed |