You know, the way these security contractors were just killed and thrown away by these captors is just deplorable. It is just like how they did the guys at Crescent, and with Nick Berg. The enemy didn’t sign on to the Geneva Convention, and they could care less about your life. Fighting to your death is probably your best option……if you even can fight to the death. If not, and for whatever reason you do get captured, may god have mercy on your soul. I think in that case, hope and constant dedication to any means of escape are things that will get you through. The Code of Conduct could be somewhat of a guide, along with the industry best practice for surviving hostage situations. Other than that, just don’t get captured. –Matt
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Peter Moore reunited with family as argument rages over deaths
January 2, 2010
Sean O’Neill, Crime and Security Editor
Peter Moore arrived back in Britain last night as criticism continued to grow of the Government’s handling of the Iraq hostage crisis.
A chartered aircraft carrying Mr Moore landed at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, shortly after 5pm. He was later reunited with his stepparents, Fran and Pauline Sweeney, at an undisclosed location.
Mr and Mrs Sweeney, from Lincoln, said that they were “thrilled to have Peter back safely”. They asked for the chance to spend some time with him.
“We have a lot of catching up to do and would like to have time with Peter on our own,” the couple said.
Mr Moore, 36, was flown from Baghdad to the Jordanian capital Amman yesterday morning, then transferred to an aircraft operated by the security company International SOS for his return to Britain. He was accompanied by consular staff from the British Embassy in Baghdad and was met at the RAF base by an official from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The joy at the release of Mr Moore, an IT consultant, has been tempered by the murders of three of the British security guards abducted with him in May 2007 and the belief that a fourth has also been killed by the kidnappers.
Relatives have become increasingly critical of the Foreign Office’s action in imposing a partial news blackout and accused officials of poor communication over the past 2½ years. The Foreign Office defended its role and insisted that the release of Mr Moore was not connected to the transfer of Qais al-Khazali from American to Iraqi custody. Al-Khazali was a leading figure in the group that kidnapped Mr Moore and his security guards.
That claim was contradicted by security sources last night. One source close to the case told The Times: “The hostage takers wanted one thing and one thing only, the release of al-Khazali. When they got that they kept their word and handed over Peter Moore. So was there a prisoner exchange deal? Yes, obviously.” However, the source stressed that the hostage taking was only part of a complex situation, which encompassed Iraq’s political reconciliation process and America’s timetable for withdrawal.
Mr Moore and his four guards were kidnapped at the Iraqi Finance Ministry by up to 100 men two months after British Forces arrested al-Khazali, a leading member of Asaib al-Haq (League of the Righteous), a Shia militant group.
The bodies of three of the guards, all of whom had military backgrounds, were returned to the British Embassy in Baghdad last year. The remains of Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39, were returned in June and the body of Alec MacLachlan was handed over in September. Alan McMenemy, 34, from Glasgow, is still unaccounted for, but he is also believed to have been killed by the kidnappers.
Graeme Moore, the former hostage’s natural father who was not invited to meet him when he returned last night, claimed that the Foreign Office had “mishandled the situation from the very beginning”. He said: “They never even contacted me, the first I knew he had been abducted was when I saw the kidnappers’ video of him in February 2008.” The Government’s mishandling of the crisis had contributed to the men’s deaths, he claimed.
Mr Moore Sr, 60, from Wigston, Leicestershire, said that he had been in contact with Canon Andrew White, an Anglican clergyman in Baghdad, and paid tribute to his work in making contacts with militant groups. Canon White said that he had “intensive face-to-face” meetings with representatives of the kidnappers, the last of which took place three days before Christmas.
Security sources rejected Mr Moore’s criticisms and said that Britain had devoted huge resources to securing the hostage’s release. They also cast doubt on claims that the kidnapping had been organised by Iran, but conceded that Asaib al-Haq did have Iranian support.
The Foreign Office said that the release of al-Khazali was connected solely to the political situation in Iraq. A spokesman said: “The United States transferred Qais al-Khazali to government of Iraq custody under the two countries’ status of forces agreement. The UK continues to be kept informed of this process through its contacts with the United States and the Government of Iraq.
“Separately, the Government of Iraq is carrying out a process of reconciliation with groups willing to renounce violence and enter the political mainstream. Since holding hostages is incompatible with reconciliation, we judge that progress on the wider reconciliation effort will benefit hostages held in Iraq. There has been no prisoner exchange deal in the case of Peter Moore.”
Story here.