Hopes rise for Scottish hostage in Iraq

Published on Wednesday 30 December 2009 21:57

THE wife of a Scot kidnapped in Iraq spoke last night of her hope that he was alive, after the release of fellow hostage Peter Moore.

• Alan McMenemy. Picture: PA

Mr Moore was freed after being held for more than two and a half years and will be reunited with his family by tomorrow.

The wife of father-of-two Alan McMenemy, abducted with Mr Moore and three other men, said the release had given her fresh hope that her husband would be home soon.

And Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded that the kidnappers release him.

Roseleen McMenemy told The Scotsman she was happy for Mr Moore's family and holding out for news of her husband.

Clive Fairweather: Kidnappers will have done deal – but maybe not with UK

"All I want to say is I'm delighted for Pauline (Sweeney, Mr Moore's stepmother] and the rest of Peter's family," Mrs McMenemy said from her Milngavie home. "Hopefully, Alan will be home soon as well."

Mr Moore's release has raised speculation a deal was done with the kidnappers for his freedom.

He was freed by his Shia captors yesterday morning and delivered to the British Embassy in Baghdad, in what has been the UK's longest-running hostage crisis for two decades.

The 36-year-old IT consultant was said to be "delighted" with his new-found freedom but, in an emotional phone call home, he told his family he initially thought his captors, members of the hardline Righteous League, were taking him outside to put a bullet through his head.

He was seized in May 2007 along with four bodyguards – Mr McMenemy, Jason Creswell, from Glasgow, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec MacLachlan. The whereabouts of Mr McMenemy, 34, originally from Dumbarton, are not known, but the government says it is likely he is dead. The other three were killed and their bodies returned earlier this year.

But Mrs McMenemy refuses to give up hope, and Mr Moore's release will put fresh pressure on the government to push for the release of her husband, particularly with Iraqi elections looming in March.

The Prime Minister said he was "hugely relieved" by the "wonderful news" that Mr Moore had been released and would be reunited with his family.

"They have faced a terrible ordeal, and I know the whole nation will share their joy that he is coming home. I pay tribute to all those who helped in the protracted effort to secure the release."

Mr Brown went on: "At this moment of celebration, we also remember the families of British hostages who have been killed in Iraq and elsewhere.

"And we pledge to continue to do everything we can to bring British hostages back to their loved ones, including the remaining hostage of the group in Iraq, Alan McMenemy. I demand that the hostage takers return him to us."

Iraqi officials claimed a deal had been done to facilitate Mr Moore's release, and while the British government reiterated its official stance that it does not negotiate with terrorists, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said only that no "substantive" concessions had been made, implying there had been concessions of some sort.

Iraqi officials said a young Shia cleric, Qais al-Ghazali, held by the United States military, was being handed over for release to the Iraqi government in exchange.

The cleric, his brother Laith al-Ghazali and a senior member of Hezbollah had been captured near Basra by the SAS in March 2007. Qais al-Ghazali is tipped to play a leading role in Iraqi politics in the future.

Mr Miliband denied there had been any direct deals and said: "The British government does not make substantive concessions to hostage takers, anywhere and any place, and there was no such substantive concession in this case."

However, his use of the word "substantive" will be seen as a caveat, that there had been at least some movement.

The Foreign Secretary put Mr Moore's release down to the reconciliation process initiated by Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, saying: "The process of reconciliation is the foundation of the decision of the kidnappers to release him."

Mr Moore, from Lincoln, had been installing software in the Iraqi finance ministry to combat oil money embezzlement when he was seized with his bodyguards. The audacious kidnapping was carried out by around 40 men dressed in police uniform and insiders believe it was ordered by high-level Iraqi officials.

News of Mr Moore's release was announced at a press briefing in London by the Foreign Secretary.

Mr Miliband said: "He's in good health, despite many months in captivity. He's going to be reunited with his family as soon as possible in the UK. He is, to put is mildly, absolutely delighted at his release.

"We are in close touch with Peter's family. His family and friends are also delighted about his release and that he has come through an unspeakable two and a half years."

Mr Moore's mother, Avril Sweeney, 54, said she could "smile again" following the news.

"It's like a big black cloud has been hanging over me and it has lifted now," she said. Two and a half years and, all of a sudden, it's not there any more. I can smile again."

His father, Graeme Moore, said: "We are so relieved and we just want to get him home, back to his family and friends.

"I'm breaking down, I'm just so overjoyed for the lad. It's been such a long haul."

However, Mr Moore complained that the Foreign Office had been "obstructive" in securing his son's release – a charge Mr Miliband vehemently denied.

His stepmother said Mr Moore had seen a lot of the appeal broadcasts from the family and this had helped him.

Pauline Sweeney said he had been "relatively well treated" but yesterday morning, when his captors summoned him, "he thought he was going out to have a bullet in his head".

She also said she was sorry for the relatives of the dead hostages, and that they had become like an extended family after being united by the ordeal.

"We have been to three funerals and shared grief. Today is tinged with a lot of sadness because we have still to hear about Alan, and we hope Alan comes home safely as well," she said

It is believed Mr Moore had been kept separate from the other hostages and had not known of their fate.

Forensic analysis has shown the three security guards were killed about 18 months before their bodies were returned to UK authorities last spring.

Mr Moore was last night being debriefed and given medical tests in Iraq. It is believed he will fly from there initially to Jordan or Kuwait, before returning home to Britain.

Related

Joy for one family mirrored by anguish for another

The long road to Briton's freedom

2007

29 MAY: Five British contractors are seized by about 40 armed men wearing police uniforms at the Iraqi Finance Ministry in Baghdad, left.

One of the hostages is Peter Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln, who was working in Iraq for BearingPoint, an American management consultancy firm.

The four other men are Scots Alan McMenemy and Jason Creswell along with Jason Swindlehurst and Alec MacLachlan, employed by the Canadian security firm GardaWorld to protect Mr Moore. Suspicion over those responsible for the kidnappings at first falls the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr, above. But al-Sadr's followers deny responsibility and suspicion then falls on splinter groups alleged to be controlled by Iran.

9 DECEMBER: On a visit to Iraq, Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for the immediate release of the five men and says hostage-taking will not alter British policy.

2008

26 FEBRUARY: Al-Arabiya TV broadcasts a video received from the kidnappers, showing Mr Moore asking Mr Brown to free nine Iraqis in exchange for the release of the five Britons.

29 FEBRUARY: The families of the five men appeal to the kidnappers. In a statement read by Pauline Sweeney, Mr Moore's stepmother, they say: "Please, show the world your true humanity, and let our loved ones go."

5 MARCH: The Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq, the group that claims to be holding the men, posts a response to Mrs Sweeney's appeal on the internet.

It says: "We understand your feelings as a mother who misses her son and we ask you in return to feel for the Iraqi mothers who miss their children jailed in your government's prisons for no crime they committed."

7 MARCH: The hostages' relatives reply by making a renewed appeal for the five men to be freed.

Mrs Sweeney says they share the anguish of all Iraqi mothers and families with loved ones in captivity.

29 MAY: On the first anniversary of the kidnappings, the UK's ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Prentice, makes an appeal to the abductors in Arabic for the captives to be freed.

19 JULY: The kidnappers release a new video in which they claim that one of the hostages took his own life on 25 May. This cannot be independently verified.

The video also features footage of Alan McMenemy pleading with the government to take action to allow him to return home.

2009

22 MARCH: The hostage-takers send a video to the British Embassy in Baghdad in which they demand the release of the founder of the Iran-backed militia group the League of the Righteous, who is in US custody.

The film also shows Mr Moore saying the captives are being treated well and urging the government to secure their release.

28 MAY: A day before the second anniversary of the kidnapping, the men's families speak of their continuing hopes for their loved ones' release.

20 JUNE: Foreign secretary David Miliband says that the remains of two bodies have been passed to Britain by the Iraqi authorities and British authorities are trying to confirm their identities.

The two bodies are revealed to be security guards Jason Creswell, originally from Glasgow, and Jason Swindlehurst, originally from Skelmersdale.

22 JUNE: Gordon Brown demands the release of the three remaining hostages – IT consultant Mr Moore and the two other guards. He says there is "no justification" for hostage-taking.

Mr Moore's father Graham angrily condemns Mr Miliband as a "total waste of space" and says waiting for news of his son is "torture".

29 JULY: The families of Alan McMenemy, from Glasgow, and Alec MacLachlan, from Llanelli, south Wales, are told by the government that they are "very likely" to have died. They make a televised appeal to the hostage-takers with Mr Moore's relatives, asking the militants to return their bodies and to release Mr Moore alive.

2 SEPTEMBER: A body believed to be a British hostage is passed to authorities in Iraq.

Gordon Brown says he is "deeply saddened" by the news. A day later he announces with "deepest regret" that the body is that of Mr MacLachlan.

28 SEPTEMBER: It is reported that 100 members of a militant group suspected of links to the kidnapping of the five Britons have been released from prison.

18 DECEMBER: Relatives of Mr Moore and Mr McMenemy, renew appeals for their release

30 DECEMBER: Mr Moore is freed and family, including mother Avril, celebrate.