Timeline: Iraq hostages
Updated on 18 December 2009
The key developments since five Britons were kidnapped in Baghdad two years ago.
2007
May 29: 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 Shia 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 Shia cleric Muqtada al Sadr, for the kidnapping.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair promises the British Government will do everything possible to help free the men.
December 4: The kidnappers issue a video warning that one hostage will be killed "as a first warning" unless British troops are withdrawn from Iraq within 10 days.
The film, broadcast on Dubai-based TV station Al-Arabiya, shows two gunmen in front of a sign marked "the Islamic Shia Resistance in Iraq" flanking one of the Britons, who says the kidnapped men feel they have been "forgotten".
Experts note it is unusual for Shia militias to release videos of captives, a tactic more commonly used by al Qaida and other militant Sunni groups.
December 9: 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.
December 12: 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.
2008
February 26: 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.
February 29: 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."
March 5: The Islamic Shia 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."
March 7: 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.
May 29: 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.
July 19: 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.
Dec 22: The families of the hostages make an appeal for their release.
2009
March 22: 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.
May 28: A day before the second anniversary of the kidnapping, the head of the security firm guarding Peter Moore talks to Channel 4 News about 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".
June 9: The release of a leading Iraqi militant by US forces sparks fresh hopes that the five Britons could be freed.
The American military handed Shia insurgent Laith al-Khazali over to the Iraqi authorities.
June 19: The remains of two bodies are passed to Britain by the Iraqi authorities.
June 21: The bodies are identified as Jason Creswell, originally from Glasgow, and Jason Swindlehurst, originally from Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
June 22: The Foreign Secretary Davd Miliband defends the Government's actions.
June 24: The Prime Minister insists the Government is doing all it can to secure the release of the remaining three hostages.
June 26: The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst and Mr Creswell are flown home from Baghdad to RAF Lyneham.
June 30: Mr Swindlehurst and Mr Creswell are likely to have died from being shot, said the Wiltshire coroners' office.
July 9: An inquest into the deaths of both men is opened and adjourned at Salisbury Coroner's Court. The inquest hears they died from gunshot wounds.
July 16: Former Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells questions whether the UK had negotiated with the right people while trying to secure the release of the five hostages. Mr Howells also voices frustration at the difficulty of getting reliable information about the hostages.
July 29: Two of the three British hostages still being held, identified as Alan McMenemy, from Scotland and Alec MacLachlan, from south Wales, are "very likely" to be dead, according to reports.
Sep 2: A body is handed over to Iraqi authorities and is later identified as that of Alec Maclachlan.
Sep 7: The body of MacLachlan is returned home on an RAF flight, the Foreign Office confirms.
Sep 28: It is reported that nearly 100 members of a militant group suspected of links to the kidnapping of the five Britons have been released from prison.
Dec 18: Relatives of Moore make renewed appeals for his release on Channel 4 News.
Dec 30: Moore is freed.
