Sunday Express: British hostage Peter Moore is being held by kidnappers loyal to Iran’s revolutionary guard and his fate will be determined by an Iranian army general, it has been claimed. Sunday Express
By James Murray and Hilary Douglas
BRITISH hostage Peter Moore is being held by kidnappers loyal to Iran’s revolutionary guard and his fate will be determined by an Iranian army general, it has been claimed.
The claims came from moderate Iraq MP Jamal Aldin, who said: “I understand from good sources he has been moved in and out of Iran.
“The revolutionary guard have absolute control of him. Nobody knows exactly where he is but I am sure he’s been in Tehran.” He said Foreign Secretary David Miliband should consider negotiating directly for his release with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The idea that Iran had a hand in the abduction of Mr Moore and four British bodyguards from a Baghdad office in May 2007 could have serious repercussions for international diplomacy.
In Britain last week, Mr Aldin, who is a marked man in Iraq and has survived six assassination attempts in five years, painted a disturbing picture of how his country is becoming a “satellite province” of Iran.
He said operations were run deep inside Iraq from the border base of Iranian general Kassim Sulaimani. ‘‘General Sulaimani effectively controls the revolutionary guard in Iraq who have Mr Moore.”
IT expert Mr Moore, 36, and his guards were snatched by a 40-strong gang posing as policemen.
Three bodies have so far been handed over to the British embassy, two in June and one in August.
Mr Moore is now believed to be the only hostage still alive.
Mr Aldin said the US is “complicit” in what is going on in Iraq, and deals directly with General Sulaimani. “They ask him to stop the Green Zone being mortared and it happens.
“The US knows Iran is poised to seize control of Iraq the second the allied troops leave Baghdad.”
He believes this is a greater threat than Iran’s nuclear programme. “Pakistan has a nuclear deterrent. It is a backward country, but you never had a problem with a nuclear threat from Pakistan. India, the same.”
Mr Moore’s father, Graham, frustrated by diplomatic efforts, is willing to speak to the kidnappers directly.
