THE kidnappers of five British men seized in Baghdad have offered to hand over the body of one of the hostages who is said to have committed suicide.

In return the abductors have demanded the release of 10 Iraqi women held by the Americans and an unspecified number of elderly Iraqi detain-ees. An intermediary who relayed the proposal to The Sunday Times said that if the conditions were met, the body of the hostage - named only as Jason - would be delivered to Iraqi officials.

A video passed to this newspaper two months ago entitled Intihar (Arabic for suicide) and depicting Jason claimed he had killed himself on May 25, four days before the first anniversary of the abduction. The Foreign Office has received no corroboration of the claim.

Last week a source with knowledge of the kidnappers’ intentions said they were offering Jason’s body as a gesture of goodwill to mark the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.

“He will be handed over to the Iraqi government, who in turn can hand him to the British and to his family on condition that all women prisoners being held in American prisons, as well as the old and innocent aged men, are freed,” said the intermediary.

He said 10 Iraqi women were being held in US jails simply for “being related to alleged terrorists”. He added: “These women have committed no crime.”

The intermediary emphasised that such a deal would not affect the position of the remaining hostages. “The other four captives will continue to be held until [the kidnappers’] main demands are met,” the go-between explained.

“If the other side [the British and US governments] do not respond, then let it be known and seen by all that it is they who are hindering the end of this saga as well as prolonging the ordeal of the hostages.”

Armed militants disguised as police captured Peter Moore, an IT consultant, and his four bodyguards at the finance ministry in Baghdad in May 2007.

Two of the guards are called Jason and the others are named as Alan, a father of two from Scotland, and Alec. Their full names have been withheld at the request of their families.

In the video used to announce Jason’s death, the captors referred to themselves as the Shi’ite Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Their main demand is for the release of nine men who, they claim, were arrested by British forces in the southern port of Basra.

These prisoners are understood to include Qais al-Khazaali, a former chief spokesman for the Shi’ite Mahdi Army. Khazaali, who led a faction trained in Iran, is now detained by the Americans in connection with a raid on a base in which five US soldiers were killed.

Last week the intermediary said: “One hostage has already committed suicide and despite our appeals there has been no movement on the case. The British and Americans appear to be indifferent to the plight of the captives. Do they want the others to commit suicide as well?”

This weekend Jason’s sister, Lisette, refused to accept that her brother had died and appealed to his captors for his release.

“Please, please return Jason to our family,” she said. “We have suffered enough. We know you feel you have your reasons for holding our loved ones, but they are innocent human beings. We as a family know there is a piece missing and cannot function until his safe return.

“We would like Jason to know that we love and miss him so much; we think of you every day. Despite what has been written in the media, we know you are stronger than that and this cannot and will not be true.”

Lisette continued: “This has been a horrific time for us and we are appealing for everybody, including the government, to step forward and face what is really going on here. This is my brother, a son and a dad. We just want all our loved ones home.”

The video announcing Jason’s death also featured foot-age of Alan. “Despite my good treatment over the last year, physically, I’m not doing well,” he told viewers. “Psychologically, I’m doing a lot worse. The thought of not seeing my family again . . . just isn’t doing well with me at all.” His wife Roseleen said this weekend: “I would like Alan to know how much we miss him, how much we love him and how eager we are to see him safely home. He is constantly in our thoughts and prayers.”

She also signalled a significant change in the families’ approach to securing the men’s release. She said: “Many people have worked hard behind the scenes to try to secure the release of Alan, Jason, Alec, Peter and Jason. As family members we have felt powerless to influence the situation.

“Now we believe we need to take personal action to do what we can: we publicly appeal to the Iraqi PM, the British PM and President Bush to intervene and request personal meetings with them at the earliest possible opportunity.

“For over a year our families have suffered and we’d call on them to imagine the efforts they would make if their own husbands, fathers, brothers, sons were held hostage.”

She said she agreed with the captors when they spoke of the anguish suffered by the families of their own prisoners. “We call on both the hostage takers and the US and British forces to release innocent people in their custody.”

Last night the Foreign Office rejected the kidnappers’ offer. “Hostage taking can never be justified,” said a spokesman.

“We call on all those holding hostages in Iraq to let them go now and without conditions. We remain extremely concerned for the safety of the British hostages. We continue to be ready to talk to anyone who can help secure their safe release.”

MAY 29, 2007
IT consultant Peter Moore and his four guards are seized from the fi nance ministry in Baghdad by up to 40 Iraqis dressed as policemen

DECEMBER 4, 2007
Video broadcast on al-Arabiya television shows hostage identifi ed as Jason saying: ‘I feel like we have been forgotten’

JULY 20, 2008
The Sunday Times releases video passed to the paper claiming a hostage has killed himself. Another, Alan, appeals to UK to ‘get this over’

LAST WEEK
Kidnappers tell the paper through intermediary they are prepared to hand over hostage’s body in return for the release of 10 female prisoners

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