Hijackers deny torture Peter Moore16: 22 15/03/2010, Matthew Weaver, British hostages in Iraq, guardian.co.uk, Iraq, news, UK news, world news, Guardi

Hijackers deny torture Peter Moore16: 22 15/03/2010, Matthew Weaver, British hostages in Iraq, guardian.co.uk, Iraq, news, UK news, world news, Guardian Unlimited

Video shows Iraqi Shiite group in captivity watching TV, exercising and playing with children



A group of Iraqi Shiites blamed the British hostage by consultant Peter Moore, today denied allegations of torture and ill-treatment and released new footage of him apparently relaxing in captivity.

The group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, accused Moore of lying when he told his mistreatment of the times and on Channel 4 last week. Moore said he was beaten almost every day, hung by his arms from a door, and a point subjected to a mock execution.

The group, known in English as the League of the Righteous, said: "We deny the lies she told and ensure everyone who had treated him well." To confirm our position, we are showing a video of the circumstances of Moore during his detention. "

The 46-second video shows Peter Moore have rosary while lying on a mattress inside a single room. He also shows watching TV, playing with a small child, eating fruit, writing and exercising on a treadmill.

Moore and his four bodyguards were taken hostage outside the Finance Ministry in Baghdad in May 2007 by men wearing uniforms. Moore was released last December and returned to Britain.

Three of the bodyguard, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec MacLachlan, were shot and their bodies returned to Britain last year. The fourth, Alan McMenemy, also believed to be dead.

Moore said Channel 4 News how he was led handcuffed to a mock execution, said to his knees and felt a gun that took the lead. He said in that moment he thought he was dead.

He described how he lay on a mattress on the floor, blindfolded, handcuffed and chained by the ankles to a wire rack.

The Guardian reported that Moore and the bodyguards were taken to Iran in a day of his abduction in an operation directed and orchestrated by the Quds Force, part of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Gen. David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, said Moore was "certainly" held in Iran for at least part of their time in captivity.

But Moore believed that took place in houses in Basra and in the towns of Hilla, Karbala and Baghdad during their captivity, while acknowledging that the men may have been forced across the border.

The group's statement also denied that the men had been taken to Iran.

British hostages in Iraq
Iraq
Matthew Weaver


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