A ploy to gain maximum coverage and spread terror by the Islamic militants has been kidnapping of the Europeans or whites and publicising their terror with the cuttings and killings or sometimes the gratefuls giveup in return for some dollars. Either way the hostages in Iraq
BBC NEWs says have little or no hope they are alive.
 The five hostages were taken in May 2007 |
Two more of the British hostages held in Iraq are now thought "very likely" to be dead, the BBC has learned.
Security guards Alan McMenemy, from Glasgow, and Alec Maclachlan, from south Wales, were kidnapped in 2007 along with three other Britons.
The bodies of two of the other men were found last month with gunshot wounds.
The condition of the fifth man, Peter Moore, is not known. The Foreign Office says all efforts are being made to secure the hostages' release.
Mr Moore had been working for American management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq, while the other men were security contractors employed to guard him.
The group were captured at Baghdad's Ministry of Finance in May 2007 by about 40 men disguised as Iraqi policemen.
They are understood to belong to an obscure militia known as Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the Foreign Office told the families of Mr McMenemy and Mr Maclachlan last week that the men had most likely died while in captivity.
And he revealed the kidnappers told the British government a month ago they had two more bodies.
"At the time the hostage-takers handed over the bodies of the two other security guards - Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst - they let it be known that they had two more bodies," he said.
"They have made many claims and counter-claims and that couldn't be verified immediately. The Foreign Office is now pretty certain that it's true."
Government sources had told him that the focus was now on negotiating the release of IT consultant Mr Moore.
The last proof of life sent by his kidnappers was a video handed over in March, but it is not known when the film was made or if he is still alive today.
'Only hope'
His grandmother, Edna Moore, 84, of Wigston, Leicestershire, said the family could "only hope" for Mr Moore's safe return.
"God help the other families. There's not much we can do, we feel so helpless.
"It's terrible, you try to look on the bright side and that's hammering at your brain all the time."
Rev Pauline Barnett, who knows Mr MacLachlan's family, said: "This is dreadful news. If this is true then we are devastated, it's an awful conclusion.
"We've been praying for the family and hoping there would be a good ending to this story."
 The bodies of Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst were found in June |
The Foreign Office refused to comment on the specifics of the case, saying it did not discuss operational details.
However, a spokeswoman said: "We continue to work intensively for the release of the hostages still held in this highly complex case and are extremely concerned for their safety."
The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Mr Creswell, from Glasgow, were flown back to the UK last month.
News of their deaths came shortly after speculation that a deal to free all five men alive could be close.
Security experts understood there had been positive diplomatic moves behind the scenes, including the release of a prisoner whose freedom was being demanded by the hostage-takers.
But Mr Gardner said: "All the time [the kidnappers] were carrying on these discussions, cynically, they already knew they had dead bodies on their hands - two, possibly four."
Little is known about the captives because of a media blackout during a large period of their captivity.
The blackout originally came on the instruction of the hostage-takers who said they did not want publicity.
This has been Britain's longest running hostage crisis for nearly 20 years.
There's not much we can do - we feel so helpless
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