Iraq hostages: events timeline
Updated on 22 June 2009
The key developments since the five Britons were kidnapped in Baghdad.
- 29 May 2007: Five British contractors are seized by about 40 armed men wearing police uniforms at the Iraqi Finance Ministry in Baghdad. They are taken in the direction of Baghdad's sprawling Shiite district of Sadr City. One of the hostages is Peter Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln who was working in Iraq for BearingPoint, an American management consultancy.
The four other men, later named only as Alan and Jason from Scotland, and Alec and a second man called Jason from Wales, were employed as security guards by the Canadian security firm GardaWorld to protect Mr Moore.
Iraqi officials initially blame the Mahdi Army, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr, for the kidnapping.
Then-prime minister Tony Blair promises the Government will do everything possible to help free the men. - 4 Dec 2007: The kidnappers issue a video warning that one hostage will be killed "as a first warning" unless British troops are withdrawn from Iraq within ten days.
The film, broadcast on Dubai-based TV station Al-Arabiya, shows two gunmen in front of a sign marked "the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq" flanking one of the Britons, who says the kidnapped men feel they have been "forgotten".
Experts note it is unusual for Shiite militias to release videos of captives, a tactic more commonly used by al Qaida and other militant Sunni groups.
- 9 Dec 2007: 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.
- 12 Dec 2007: The families of the hostages appeal for them to be freed before Christmas, saying they are "never out of our thoughts".
In a televised message read by former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, the relatives say they remain "serious and committed" to exploring all options to bring about the men's safe return.
- 26 Feb 2008: Al-Arabiya TV broadcasts another video clip received from the kidnappers. It shows Mr Moore asking Mr Brown to free nine Iraqis in exchange for the release of the five Britons.
- 29 Feb 2008: The families of the five men issue a direct appeal to their 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 Mar 2008: 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 Mar 2008: 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, and insists they and the captives are "in no way" politically involved.
- 29 May 2008: On the first anniversary of the kidnapping, the UK's ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Prentice, makes an appeal to the abductors in Arabic for the captives to be freed.
Their relatives speak of their agonising year-long wait and of their belief that the men will eventually be released.
- 19 July 2008: The kidnappers release a new video in which they claim that one of the hostages committed suicide on May 25. This cannot be independently verified.
The video, which is passed to the Sunday Times, also features footage of Alan pleading with the Government to take action to allow him to return home to his family in Scotland.
- 22 Mar 2009: 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 2009: A day before the second anniversary of the kidnapping, the mens' families speak of their continuing hopes for their loved ones' release.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary David Miliband pleads with the hostage-takers to free the Britons "immediately and unconditionally".
- 20 Jun 2009: Mr Miliband says the remains of two bodies were passed to Britain by the Iraqi authorities and the British authorities are trying to confirm their identities.
Of the efforts to ensure the safe release of the two men, he says "all of us have clearly failed".
- 21 June 2009: The remains are identified as those of security officers Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst.
