THE kidnappers of five Britons held in Iraq since May 2007 have sent a new video to the British Embassy in Baghdad.
According to Channel 4 News, the video shows one of the hostages, Peter Moore, saying they are being treated well, and urging the British Government to secure their release. It was shot eight days ago and has not been released to the media.
A For
eign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We have received a video of one of the British hostages taken in 2007.
"We are not prepared to comment on any details, but this is a significant development. We are continuing to work actively for the safe release of all of the hostages."
The five Britons, who have not been named officially, were seized by about 40 gunmen wearing police uniforms at the Iraqi Finance Ministry in Baghdad on May 29, 2007. At the time, Iraqi officials blamed the Mahdi Army, the militia controlled by radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, for the kidnapping.
It was thought to be a retaliatory attack for the killing by British forces of the militia's commander in Basra, southern Iraq, a week earlier.
But Sadr's followers have denied responsibility and suspicion has since fallen on Mahdi Army splinter groups, which the United States believes are controlled by Iran.
Four of the hostages were working for Canadian firm GardaWorld as security guards. They are believed to have been the bodyguards of the fifth man, a computer consultant employed by BearingPoint, an American management consultancy.
In a video broadcast by Dubai-based Al-Arabiya TV in December 2007, the kidnappers threatened to kill the men unless British troops were pulled out of Iraq within 10 days.
In February last year a video of Moore was released in which he said: "My name is Peter Moore. I have been held here for nearly eight months now."
He asked the Prime Minister to free nine Iraqis in exchange for their release. "All I want is to leave this place. I tell Gordon Brown the matter is simple: release their prisoners so we can go. It's as simple as that. That is all they want – their people, and we can go home."
