Iraq hostage Peter Moore released alive

[maddezmom]

Source: Channel4

Iraq hostage Peter Moore released alive
Updated on 30 December 2009
By Channel 4 News

IT consultant Peter Moore is freed in Iraq almost three years after he was kidnapped along with four other men by militants in Baghdad, the Foreign Office announced today.


The Iraq government confirmed today that Moore has been handed over to British authorities in Baghdad.

Moore, aged 36, was in a group of five British men snatched by gunmen outside a government building in Baghdad in May 2007. He was installing asset tracing software at the Finance Ministry at the time.

Hostages Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst were shot dead and their bodies returned to Britain earlier this year. Security guards Alec Maclachlan and Alan McMenemy are also believed to have been killed.

There was no immediate confirmation of his release from the Foreign Office in London but Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to make a statement later today.



Read more: http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/uk/iraq+hostage+peter+moore+released+alive/3483037

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Milibrand on BBC now confirming

[babylonsister]

1. Wow. I bet they are all thanking their lucky stars. nt

[Ian David]

3. Luck had nothing to do with it.

Kidnap and ransom insurance reimburses the costs associated with kidnap or extortion situations. The ransom is usually paid and the insurance restores your financial position afterwards.

It will also cover the following:

- Experts to help with negotiations.
- Lost revenue including rest and rehabilitation expenses for the individual.
- Expense of security to protect the family/business.
- A 24 hour emergency helpline.
- Death and disability insurance

Most kidnappings and extortion attempts are carried out to get a ransom. Some are politically motivated, but tend to be limited to war and post conflict areas like Afghanistan and Iraq.

Cover at a glance...

* Ransom is reimbursed.
* Expert help negotiating with kidnappers.
* Lost revenue and expenses covered.
* Security protection.
* 24 hour emergency helpline.
* Death and disability insurance.


http://www.warterrorisminsurance.com/kidnap_and_ransom.asp

Terrorists hit the jackpot (again) and our troops will pay the price (again).

[psychopomp]

5. Your post is speculation

Two hostages were killed and two security guards are believed killed, according to the article. I agree that it is a likely scenario, but we don't know the condition of the hostage's release.

[Ian David]

2. I wonder how many IEDs the terrorists will build with his ransom money. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Shia cleric's release by US forces provided key to Peter Moore's freedom

Qais al-Khazali has been key to the release of Peter Moore ever since the Briton was kidnapped. The 26-year-old Shia cleric was a rising star in the Righteous League, a band of Iranian-backed Shia militants, a nascent Islamic group when he was captured by the SAS in March 2007.

Moore was seized two months later by the Righteous League, which aimed to swap him for members who had been detained during US military sweeps, then ultimately Khazali, who would emerge as the man who had seen his followers freed ahead of him. Moore was the group's most valuable pawn.

Under a deal spelled out in March, Moore and Khazali were to be the last two men released as part of a phased swap of prisoners that would be cloaked under the process of Iraqi national reconciliation. The deal proceeded according to a loose blueprint which neither Britain, the US nor Iraq wanted to acknowledge as a deal. In the eight months since, the bodies of three of Moore's guards have been handed over in return for several hundred former Shia detainees, including Righteous League members and loyalists of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The release of Moore and the handing over of Khazali from American to Iraqi custody marks a dramatic ascent for Khazali, who was once Sadr's spokesman, but now looms as the apprentice who eclipsed the master.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/iranian-shia-clerics-release

So, not money, it seems.

[Ian David]

8. So either we had no good reason to capture the cleric, or else letting him go was a bad idea. n/t

[Turborama]

4. There's a lot of evidence that shows Iraqi government officials were involved with the kidnapping

Lots of info on the Guardian's website here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/british-hostages-in-iraq

This short 13 minute documentary is the most conclusive account that shows there must have been collusion:

British hostages: claims of Iraqi government collusion
A Guardian investigation reveals allegations that high-ranking Iraqi government officials were involved in the kidnapping of five Britons in Baghdad: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jul/30/british-hostages-iraq-government

[TexasObserver]

6. Recommend