Plea to release Iraq hostages

THE FAMILIES of five Britons held hostage in Iraq for nine months yesterday issued a poignant plea for their release.

In a statement through the Foreign Office, the families of the five security contractors snatched from Iraq's Finance Ministry in May call on the hostage takers to "show the world your true humanity, and let our loved ones go".

The statement comes days after a video message showing one of the hostages, Peter Moore, was released by a group called "the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq."