Prime Minister Gordon Brown won't see father of Iraq hostage

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/PM-WON-T-Captive-S-DAD/article-1531161-detail/article.html

Quote
Prime Minister Gordon Brown won't see father of Iraq hostage
Friday, November 20, 2009, 09:30. 35 readers have commented on this story.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will not meet the father of an IT worker being held hostage in Iraq.
Graeme Moore's son, Peter, was abducted along with four British bodyguards from the Iraqi Ministry of Finance in May 2007.
The concerned father, from Wigston, wanted to meet Mr Brown as part of a Leicester Mercury readers' question and answer session to ask him about his son's plight.

Mr Moore was due to meet Mr Brown at Stephenson College, in Coalville, today.
But Downing Street have blocked the meeting, saying Mr Moore is not the "designated next of kin".

IT consultant Peter, 36, grew up in Leicester before moving to Lincoln to live with his mother and her partner.
Mr Moore described the situation as "complete nonsense".
He said: "I am Peter's next of kin and all this is because Peter filled out a form when he was 16, naming my ex-wife's partner as his next of kin in case of an accident.

"The Government just don't want to talk to me and Gordon Brown is just refusing to answer my questions.
"I was very close to Peter and although he lived in Lincoln I was in regular contact.
"Nobody seems bothered about him and all I want is answers but I get fobbed off – this is how it's been with the Foreign Office all along."
Last week, the Leicester Mercury launched an opportunity for readers to send in questions for the Prime Minister, with a few given the chance to pose them face-to-face.

Mr Brown was visiting Coalville and meeting the chosen readers before travelling to Nottingham for a regional cabinet meeting.
In a letter to the Mercury, Mr Moore said he wanted to ask Mr Brown: "Given your public statement that you are not going to do what you should be doing, why should we believe anything you say?

"This is in particular reference to you and the Foreign Office's deliberate mishandling of the hostage situation in Iraq.
"You have also stated publicly that you are not going to speak to Peter Moore's family (i.e me) and that you are not going to do anything for Peter.

"Given that you have the deaths of three of them on your hands, please answer fully and without any waffle."
A Downing Street spokesman said: "Our first priority in this case must be the hostages and their designated next of kin.
"Graeme Moore is not Peter's designated next of kin but of course the PM understands that any situation which involves hostage-taking can clearly be very distressing for all of the family, not just the designated next of kin.

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office do provide Graeme with information on significant developments.
"The FCO would, however, be happy to speak to Graeme again and we recommend that he calls FCO consular officials.
"This is obviously a very private and sensitive matter, not just for Peter Moore's family, but for the families of all five men and we do not feel it is appropriate for the PM to meet Graeme at his visit to the Stephenson College with the Leicester Mercury and other readers. This terrible case continues to be a top priority for the Government.

"A large and experienced team based in London and Baghdad is working with the Government of Iraq and the US authorities in Iraq at the highest level to try and secure the return of Peter Moore and Alan McMenemy.

"The Prime Minister has raised this issue with the Iraqi Prime Minister on a number of occasions."

The bodies of two of the bodyguards who were with Peter, Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst, were brought back to the UK in June.
In August, the body of security guard Alec MacLachlan, 30, of Llanelli, south Wales, was flown home. Mr McMenemy, from Glasgow, a fourth guard, is feared dead.
Unquote.

My thoughts:
How supportive and appreciative Mr Unelected Brown is ............

Quote
Wednesday, 23, Dec 2009 05:45

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/brown-to-face-iraq-inquiry-after-election-$1349146.htm

By Richard James.

Gordon Brown will give evidence to the inquiry into the Iraq war, but not until after the coming general election, it has been announced.

The prime minister has been summoned to appear before Sir John Chilcot and his panel to answer questions on Britain's role in the lead up to the war and the fallout from the 2003 invasion.

His predecessor Tony Blair will also give evidence, as will his former spokesman Alastair Campbell.

The statement released by the inquiry said witnesses currently serving as ministers would not be called until after next year's general election which is expected to take place sometime between March and May.

"The committee has decided to wait until after the election to hear from those ministers who are currently serving in the roles about which the Committee wishes to question them," the statement declared.

"The committee believes that only after the general election can these ministers give their evidence fully without the hearings being used as a platform for political advantage."

Mr Brown, foreign secretary David Miliband, and international development secretary Douglas Alexander are all expected to therefore give evidence after the summer election.

The full list of witnesses who will give evidence in January and February has included a number of high-profile political figures including former foreign and now justice secretary Jack Straw, plus Margaret Beckett, Hilary Benn, Des Browne, Lord Goldsmith, John Reid and Clare Short.

Mr Brown had initially proposed that evidence sessions for the inquiry should be held in private. However the decision was reversed following a wave of public opposition.
Unquote.

The list of witnesses reads like "The Spivs Guide to Political Corruption". Now the torrent of lies and deceit will flow like the Amazon in flood.

If they needed a war that desperately the vile bastards should have joined up themselves. To top it all Brown had to be shamed into attending the D Day Anniversary and refused to bow his head at the Cenotaph.

I expect they put the cost of their Poppies on their expense accounts.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/China-Briton-Akmal-Shaikh-Does-Not-Know-He-Faces-Execution-This-Week-Cousins-In-Plea-For-Mercy/Article/200912415508652?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Region_2&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15508652_China%3A_Briton_Akmal_Shaikh_Does_Not_Know_He_Faces_Execution_This_Week%2C_Cousins_In_Plea_For_Mercy

He's being supportive to the alleged drug smuggler due to be executed.

Quote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8435075.stm
UK hostage Peter Moore released alive in Iraq

Peter Moore was previously seen in a video released by the kidnappers
British hostage Peter Moore has been released alive from captivity in Iraq, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

He said Mr Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln who was seized in Baghdad in May 2007, was in good health and "absolutely delighted at his release".

Mr Miliband said the Moore family felt deep relief after two-and-a-half years of "misery, fear and uncertainty".

Four bodyguards were seized with Mr Moore. Three were shot dead; the fourth is also thought to have been killed.

The bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Jason Creswell, of Glasgow, were returned to the UK in June 2009, followed by that of Alec MacLachlan, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, in September.

Mr Miliband has called for the release of the body of the fourth guard - Alan McMenemy from Glasgow.

Mr Miliband said Mr Moore, who had been released on Wednesday morning, was in the British Embassy in Baghdad and would be reunited with his family as soon as possible.

Friend's tribute to freed Briton
Mr Moore's stepmother Pauline Sweeney told the BBC that hearing of his release was "the best Christmas present ever".

"We spoke to him this morning. He sounds really well, very upbeat, he's cracking jokes," she said.

"He said when they came in to him this morning, he thought he was going out to a bullet in his head."

The foreign secretary said he had had a "very moving" conversation with Mr Moore, who was "to put it mildly, absolutely delighted". He is undergoing medical checks.

Mr Miliband said: "The joy and relief that will be felt by Peter's family will be mirrored by the continuing anguish of the family of Alan McMenemy.

"We have believed for some time that he has been killed and his family have been told our view of his likely fate."

British hostage released in Iraq
The foreign secretary also told the BBC there were no concessions or deals made to secure Mr Moore's release.

"This was an Iraqi-led process of political reconciliation in which an armed group has made vows to come within the political system and to renounce violence, and that's the foundation of Peter Moore's release," he said.

Mr Moore had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq. The other men were security contractors employed to guard him.

The group was captured at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance by about 40 men disguised as Iraqi policemen.

They were understood to belong to an obscure militia known as the Islamic Shia Resistance, which demanded the release of up to nine of their associates held in US military custody since early 2007.

Several had already been handed to the Iraqi government and some had since been freed under the reconciliation process.

'Key' figure released

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said it appeared "some kind of deal" had been done, though not necessarily involving the British government.

"The main person the abductors wanted back, I'm told, is out of US custody... and handed over to the Iraqis," he said.

Qais Al-Khazaali had been suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and eventual killing of five US soldiers, Mr Gardner added.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I am hugely relieved by the wonderful news that Peter has been freed.

Alan McMenemy is believed to have been killed by his captors
"At this moment of celebration, we also remember the families of British hostages who have been killed in Iraq and elsewhere.

"And we pledge to continue to do everything we can to bring British hostages back to their loved ones."

Mr Moore's father Graeme, 60, from Wigston, Leicestershire, said he was "over the moon" at the news.

He said: "We are so relieved and we just want to get him home, back now to his family and friends.

"I'm breaking down, I'm just so overjoyed for the lad."

Terry Waite, who himself was a former hostage, said he was absolutely delighted at Mr Moore's release.

He added: "It is both a very happy time for Peter and his family and... while the other families will be delighted for him, there will be that tinge of sadness and one keeps them in mind at this point."
Unquote

It seems we were wrong MsTaken, Gordon was worried after all and highly relieved that 'Peter' has been released, he said so. But hey, not worried enough to make public statements and certainly not concerned enough to speak to and give support to 'Peter's' father. I'm pretty sure Gordon wouldn't try to capitalise on and make vote winning speeches about how 'Peter's release was a triumph for 'British Government Politics', because Gordon isn't that sort of a politician.......is he?

That hypocritical backstabbing toad Milliband has been claiming the credit for Peter Moores release for most of the day !

He's little more than a simpering rent-boy, so it makes him feel like a real a man to claim the fruits of others labours. Gone are the days when politicians were REAL people.

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/

Peter Moore
I am delighted for Peter Moore and his family. The invasion of Iraq was very wrong, but Peter Moore was not a combatant or engaged in reprehensible occupation activities. My own FCO contacts tell me two interesting things: firstly that claims there was something sensitive and secret about Peter Moore's IT work, aimed at Iran, are wrong, and secondly that the Guardian take on the release is essentially right.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/iranian-shia-clerics-release

Which is interesting, as Miliband is strenuously denying the Guardian story about the link to the release of Qais al-Khazali. My friend - who is a senior member of the FCO and has been operationally involved in the case - says that there was a link and the FCO were very conscious of it.

Looks like Miliband is lying yet again. Now there's a shock.

Posted by craig on 8:58 AM 31/12/09 under War and Iran? | Comments (2)

malena stool .............. 'He's little more than a simpering rent-boy .............'

I could not agree with you more. I cannot wait to find out what his role in the MM case has been. And why. Or because of whom!

brown makes me puke.