Report: US held secret talks with Briton's kidnappers

Secret talks between American negotiators and Peter Moore’s captors were being held without the British Government’s knowledge, the father of the freed British hostage claimed today.

As Mr Moore flew back to Britain, his father, Graeme, said a source in the country texted him about a month ago, saying the Americans were talking to his son’s kidnappers about the release of Qais al-Khazali.

The leader of Asaib al-Haq, or the League of Righteousness, was transferred from US to Iraqi custody shortly before the release of 36-year-old Mr Moore, who had been held since May 2007.

The news prompted speculation of a prisoner exchange deal, since denied by the UK Foreign Office. It insists the Government made no “substantive concessions” to Mr Moore’s kidnappers.

But the IT expert’s father, a delivery driver, claimed his son’s release was secured during meetings where the kidnappers and Americans discussed the transfer of al-Khazali to Iraqi custody.

Speaking from his home in Wigston, Leicestershire, Graeme Moore, 60, said: “I couldn’t say anything about it before but about four weeks ago I got a tip that there had been secret meetings between the kidnappers and the Americans regarding al-Khazali.

“I couldn’t find out any more progress of the meetings as it was all being kept hush-hush. The whole thing was kept very secret to stop the Foreign Office messing it up.

“I was told they were being kept out of the loop and knew nothing about it until the kidnappers handed Peter over to the Iraqi authorities.”

Mr Moore said he spoke earlier to Canon Andrew White, known as the Vicar of Baghdad, to thank him for helping in the negotiations to release his son.

He said he was also waiting to thank Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical Islamic preacher who left Britain in 2005 for Beirut following speculation that he was to be investigated for treason.

Mr Moore added: “Mohammed was very helpful in getting Peter’s name out in the Arabic papers. I know he is this so-called mad cleric but he was doing it all off his own bat.”

Peter Moore, from Lincoln, was seized with his four British bodyguards by militants posing as police at the finance ministry in Baghdad on May 29, 2007.

The bodies of three bodyguards – Alec MacLachlan, 30, from Llanelli, South Wales, Jason Swindlehurst, 38, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Jason Creswell, 39, originally from Glasgow – were passed to UK authorities last year.

A fourth bodyguard, Alan McMenemy, 34, from Glasgow, is also believed to have been killed.

It has been widely reported that Mr Moore and his bodyguards were taken over the border into Iran following their kidnap, where they were held by the country’s Revolutionary Guard.

But the Foreign Office insists there is nothing to back up the claims.

Mr Moore was freed on Wednesday and is flying back to the UK today.

His father said he had to rely on news bulletins for information about his son because the Foreign Office refused to pass on details to him.

Graeme Moore said: “It’s how it has been the whole way through – the Foreign Office haven’t been talking to his family. They’ve not allowed Peter to talk to his friends and family.”

Similar claims have been made by Peter Moore’s natural mother Avril Sweeney, who told The Guardian the Government had “never told the truth” during the families’ two-and-a-half-year ordeal.

But the Foreign Office said it has been liaising with Fran and Pauline Sweeney, Peter Moore’s step-parents, who are his designated next-of-kin.

Meanwhile, the Government said it was doing everything it can to secure the release of Mr McMenemy’s body.

His father, Dennis, said he had attempted to contact the Foreign Office several times since Mr Moore’s release but had not heard back.

A Government spokeswoman said: “We are deeply sorry that Mr McMenemy feels we have not kept him fully informed of our efforts to secure the return of Alan’s body.”