THE bodies of two Britons, believed to be among five hostages kidnapped by Iraqi militants two years ago, have been handed over to the UK authorities in Baghdad.

Disclosing the “distressing development” in a surprise statement yesterday, David Miliband, the foreign secretary, said that it was “a terrible moment of uncertainty and fear” for the men’s families.

The remains of two bodies were handed over by the Iraqi government late on Friday. Forensic examinations are under way to establish their identities and the causes of death.

“Our immediate thoughts are with the families of five Britons taken hostage in Baghdad in May 2007,” Miliband said. “As would be the case with any development of this kind, they will fear the worst for their loved ones.”

It is a cruel twist for the families of the five men who were kidnapped by a Shi’ite militant group during a dramatic raid on the Iraqi finance ministry building in Baghdad two years ago.

Only last week reports suggested the kidnappers might hand over their captives. That followed the release by the US military of a prominent insurgent linked to the hostage takers.

The Britons included Peter Moore, a computer instructor from Lincoln, and his four bodyguards.

Moore, then 32, was working in Iraq for Bearingpoint, an American management consultancy. Last night his father said the Foreign Office had “not bothered” to keep him informed after the remains were handed to authorities. Graeme Moore, said the news was broken to him by a police officer, who read him a brief statement. “At this stage we are just clinging on to any hope we can,” said Moore..

He added: “Until things are confirmed I stand resolutely by my belief that he is still alive. My son is resilient — he has had to be. As far as I am aware his captives have actually been treating him okay — I cannot let myself believe that he might have come to harm.” 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 by a Canadian security firm to protect his son.

The announcement will prove a bitter shock for their families because until now reports had suggested that at least four of the men were still alive. One of the hostages — one of the two known as Jason — was reported to have committed suicide last May.

The stepmother of one of them, who wished to be identified only as Christine, said: “We don’t know whether he is okay or not.” As things stand we know as much as everyone else. We were contacted this morning by the family liaison people and we are now waiting on more news. That’s as much as I can tell you,” she said.

The mother of Alec, a bodyguard from south Wales whose identity has not been revealed for security reasons, said it was a difficult time for the family. “We are anxious about the situation, yes. We have heard nothing new from the Foreign Office, but we are hoping for the best.”

The father Alan from Dumbarton, Scotland, said: “I wish it’s not any of them but whoever it is it is somebody’s boy. It’s very difficult. We are trying to keep it together.”

The men were seized during a carefully planned operation by about 40 armed men wearing police uniforms on May 29, 2007.

Since then their whereabouts have remained unknown despite a massive manhunt by the Iraqi authorities and British military led by the SAS.

Poignant details of their plight have emerged in a series of videos released by their captors. In the first, which emerged six months after their capture, one of the men, who gave his name as Jason, said that one of the group would be executed as “a first warning” unless British troops withdrew from Iraq within 10 days.

In a second video, released in February 2008, a haggard Moore begged the prime minister to release nine Iraqis held by coalition forces in exchange for the five Britons. “All I want is to leave this place. I tell Gordon Brown the matter is simple: release their prisoners so we can go,” Moore said.

A third video obtained by The Sunday Times last July showed a hostage-taker saying that one of his captives — Jason — had killed himself in despair in May. Alan, one of the hostages, was recorded saying: “Physically, I’m not doing well. Psychologically, I’m doing a lot worse.”

In a final video, released in March, Moore had said that the hostages were “all right”, leading some to believe that all five were alive and well.

Government experts said they now viewed this video “with a significant degree of confusion and concern”.

Responsibility for the kidnapping was at first blamed on Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi’ite who is head of the Mahdi army. It was thought to be a retaliatory attack for the killing by British forces of the militia’s commander in Basra, southern Iraq, a week earlier.

However, al-Sadr’s followers have denied involvement. A group calling itself the Islamic Shi’ite Resistance in Iraq, a splinter group believed by the US to be linked to Iran, has claimed responsibility.

Despite Miliband’s caution that the bodies had not yet been identified, Foreign Office sources said last night they had reason to believe that they were two of the hostages. However, the office would undertake DNA analysis to be certain.

“At this stage we genuinely are not sure of the identities,” said a spokesman. “As you can imagine, we have five very worried families out there.”

A second official said the process of identification could take several days. “The families are all now in the horrible position of not knowing,” he said.

Government sources said they had been expecting some sort of goodwill act from the hostage-takers after the release of Laith al-Khazali, a Shi’ite militant and a leading figure in the Asaib al-Haq, or League of the Righteous. But they denied doing any kind of deal.

The handover of bodies came after a year of discussions between Iraqi officials and intermediaries with links to the captors. The intermediaries have given no information about whether the remaining three hostages are alive or dead.

Last night Moore’s grandmother, Edna, said: “We are just keeping our fingers crossed and hoping . . . but it’s somebody’s sons, isn’t it?”

oA lorry bomb exploded as worshippers left a Shi’ite mosque in northern Iraq yesterday, killing more than 70 people and wounding nearly 200 in the deadliest bombing this year.

The blast south of Kirkuk came hours after the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, warned Iraqis to expect more violence as American troops withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of this month. However, he insisted the deadline would be met “no matter what happens”.

Kidnap timeline

May 29, 2007: Five Britons, including Peter Moore, an IT consultant, and his four security guards are seized in Baghdad

December 4: Islamic Shi’ite Resistance says it will kill a hostage if UK fails to quit Iraq within 10 days July 20, 2008: Video passed to The Sunday Times claims a hostage called Jason has killed himself

June 20, 2009: David Miliband says two British bodies have been handed over by Iraqi authorities

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