HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : British hostage released after two year ordeal [December 2009]

The press release issued by 10 Downing Street on 30 December 2009.

The Prime Minister has paid tribute to those who have worked to secure the release of a British man held hostage in Iraq for over two-and-a-half years.

Peter Moore from Lincoln was working in Iraq as an IT consultant when he was taken hostage along with four British bodyguards at the finance ministry in Baghdad in 2007.

The Prime Minister has spoken to Peter Moore by phone, telling him he hoped he would be reunited with his family as soon as possible.

In a statement, the PM said:

“I am hugely relieved by the wonderful news that Peter has been freed, and will be reunited with his family as quickly as possible. They have faced a terrible ordeal, and I know that the whole nation will share their joy that he is coming home. I pay tribute to all those who helped in the protracted effort to secure the release.

“At this moment of celebration, we also remember the families of British hostages who have been killed in Iraq and elsewhere. And we pledge to continue to do everything we can to bring British hostages back to their loved ones, including the remaining hostage of the group in Iraq, Alan McMenemy. I demand that the hostage takers return him to us.”

The Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Mr Moore was in good health after his lengthy ordeal and is now with the British Embassy in Iraq.

“Peter was set free by his captors this morning in Baghdad and delivered to the Iraqi authorities. He is now in the care of the British Embassy in Baghdad.”

In June the bodies of security guards Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst were passed to British authorities, followed by the body of Alec MacLachlan in September.