Britons held in Iraq to be freed 'very soon'

Published on Saturday 28 March 2009 19:30

A DEAL is being negotiated for the release of five British hostages in Iraq, and one could be freed "very soon", it was reported yesterday.

An Arabic website said a deal is "in the works" for the release of five men who have been kept captive for two years.

The hostages, including two Scots, have been held by a Shi'ite group demanding the release of prisoners from US detention.

The Scots have only been identified as Alan, a security guard from Dumbarton, who is married with two children, and Jason, a father who has family living near Aberdeen.

The other men are Peter Moore, a computer expert from Lincolnshire, who was shown to be alive and well in a video last week; Alec MacLachlan, a former paratrooper from Llanelli; and another man named Jason, from Cardiff.

The Saudi-owned website, Elaph, yesterday quoted a leader of the extremist Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, or League of the Righteous, as saying the video recently released to the British embassy showing Moore was part of the deal.

Elaph quoted a leader of the group, identified only by his nickname Abu Ali, as saying the deal was being mediated by an unidentified Iraqi lawmaker.

A senior aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged yesterday that contacts are under way to release the Britons but denied a deal had been struck.

Contacts are understood to have picked up pace two months ago.

It is understood the men are to be gradually released in return for the release of a group of militants, which includes a former spokesman for Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Lebanese Hezbollah leader captured in Iraq two years ago.

Almost two years of covert negotiations are understood to have taken place with the hostage-takers.

Efforts to finalise the deal were thought to be a factor in Britain's move to re-engage publicly with Hezbollah's political wing in Lebanon this month.

Moore was being guarded by the other four men while installing anti-corruption software at Baghdad's finance ministry when they were taken on May 29, 2007.

He was working as a technology adviser for consulting firm BearingPoint Inc. The other men were security workers for the Montreal-based security firm GardaWorld.

Initially the kidnappers threatened to kill one hostage unless British troops withdrew from Iraq.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said yesterday: "We have seen recent press reports. We are not going to comment on one media report of alleged remarks by people claiming to be hostage-takers.

"We continue to do everything we can to try and secure the safe release of the hostages and remain extremely concerned for their safety. We call on those holding the hostages to release them immediately and unconditionally so that they can be reunited with their families and friends."

Abu Ali said that the first 10 of the group's members would be released in return for one of the Britons. If that went well, others would be released in stages.

The first group would include Laith al-Khazali, brother of the League of the Righteous's founder Qais al-Khazali, according to Elaph.

The final exchange would free Moore in exchange for Qais al-Khazali and Ali Moussa Daqduq, a Lebanese Hezbollah commander who was captured in Iraq in 2007.

Under a new US-Iraq security agreement, the US military plans to release all detainees this year except those that the Iraqi government wants to prosecute. They will be turned over to the Iraqis.