Footage of British hostage held in Iraq aired on Arabic TV
The five men were captured in Baghdad last year
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Tuesday, 26, Feb 2008 08:39
An Arabic TV channel based in Dubai has aired footage of one of the five Britons captured in Iraq eight months ago.
The footage shows a man, calling himself Peter Moore, asking prime minister Gordon Brown to free nine Iraqis in exchange for his release.
"We can go. It's as simple as that. It's a simple exchange of people. This is all they want – their people and we can go home," the man says to the camera.
The five men were kidnapped on May 29th last year after 40 armed men stormed the finance ministry in Baghdad.
The hostages include a computing consultant and the four security staff who were guarding him.
In response, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a statement condemning the release of the video.
"We condemn the release of videos such as this, which are greatly distressing to the families of those involved. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
"We urge those holding the group to release them immediately. We are in close contact with the Iraqi authorities and doing everything we can to try and secure a swift release," the statement said.
"We ask all those who may be able to influence those holding the five men to make every effort they can to secure the safety and the release of the hostages.
"We again call directly on those holding the men to release them. No matter what the cause, holding hostages is never justified and is never a way of making progress on any issue. These five men should be released immediately."
Similar footage was released in December when Shia Muslim militia threatened to kill one of the men if British forces did not leave Iraq within ten days.