Lord Carey pleads for 'forgotten hostages'

Published on Saturday 17 May 2008 02:00

A FORMER Archbishop of Canterbury appealed last night to the group holding the five "forgotten" British hostages kidnapped in Baghdad.

Lord Carey of Clifton recorded a video statement addressing the kidnappers as "honourable men" and "men of faith" and calling on them to release their victims, who were kidnapped last May.

In the footage, Lord Carey said: "You believe, as I do, that faith is important in this broken world. I appeal to you, as good people, to release these men who long to be back home once more."

He addressed the kidnappers directly, speaking to them in English and Arabic.

The footage was recorded yesterday at the House of Lords, and he was accompanied by Canon Andrew White, his former Middle East envoy, now Anglican chaplain to Iraq.

As part of his role, Canon White has spent much of the past year working with Iraqi religious and tribal leaders to try to engage with the hostage-takers.

The British men, who include four security guards and an IT consultant, Peter Moore, from Lincoln, who was working for BearingPoint, an American management consultancy, were captured by gunmen at the Iraqi ministry of finance on 29 May last year.

The other men have not been identified, but it is known they were employed by the Canadian security firm GardaWorld to guard Mr Moore.

In December the kidnappers released a video of one the hostages apparently flanked by two gunmen.

The hostage could be seen in front of a sign reading "the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq", and he said: "My name is Jason. Today is November 18… I have been here now for 173 days. I feel we have been forgotten."