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Kate Gosselin is slated to star in a new reality dating show, sources say. Sigh. Sigh. Why? Why?! Those Gosselins are  like a particularly sturdy strain of kitchen roaches, just when you think you’ve sprayed them all away they peak out their heads for another round. more Kate after the hop… Anyway, Kate was fired from her [...]
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• Cleric’s freedom is key to handover
• McMenemy’s father angry at ‘lies’
• Moore well treated in final months

Parents of some of the five British hostages kidnapped in Iraq have attacked the UK government’s handling of the crisis, claiming they were lied to by officials during their two-and-a-half-year ordeal.

Dennis McMenemy, the father of Alan – whose body has still not been returned – accused the Foreign Office of “deceit, lies and cover-up” over the kidnappers’ links to Iran, while Peter Moore’s natural mother, Avril Sweeney, said the government had “never told the truth”.

Iraq government officials today told the Guardian that McMenemy’s body was likely to be handed over once a Shia cleric, Qais al-Khazali, whose transfer to Iraqi custody was the key to the release of Moore, is freed.

The delivery of McMenemy’s remains will bring to an end the longest hostage ordeal involving British nationals anywhere for more than 20 years.

Dennis McMenemy complained that he had not had any contact from the Foreign Office since he learned that Moore would be released today, despite making several calls. He is still holding out hope that his son is alive, although the foreign secretary, David Miliband, has said the evidence suggests that Alan McMenemy has been killed.

The Foreign Office said tonight it returned Dennis McMenemy’s calls today. McMenemy is angry that the Foreign Office had never mentioned the kidnappers’ links to Iran, even though the possibility was much discussed by hostages’ families. Sweeney, for her part, dismissed Miliband’s assertion that there had been no deal to secure Moore’s release.

Moore was at the British embassy in Baghdad today and was said by family members to be in good spirits and healthy. He was quoted as saying he had suffered “rough treatment” during his captivity, but had been treated better in the last six months, even being allowed access to a television and PlayStation.

Foreign Office sources said he was preparing to fly back to Britain, where he will be placed in a safe house for around 10 days and given “gold star service” from doctors and psychiatrists. The priority is to reunite him with his family as soon as possible, the source said.

The developments follow the Guardian’s revelation that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard led the operation to capture Moore, a British IT consultant, and his four British bodyguards, from Iraq’s finance ministry in 2007. According to Iranian and Iraqi sources, the hostages were held inside Iran. The former US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told the BBC he was “90% certain” that the Britons had been held in Iran.

Iraq’s Shia Islamic groups and the Shia-led government are preparing a warm welcome for Khazali, 26, who played no role in the kidnapping of the five Britons but whose fate came to determine more than anyone whether they would live or die. Officials say he is not considered to have committed a crime under Iraqi law and is being hailed as a man who could lead a Shia bloc in an Iraqi national reconciliation process.

A government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, confirmed that if Qais al-Khazali was not wanted for any offence he would be freed. “We are continuing to negotiate about the release of the body of the fourth guard and we hope to close this sad chapter within days,” he said.

The Guardian understands the handing over of McMenemy’s body was expected to have taken place before Moore’s release. It is now likely as soon as Khazali is freed from Iraqi custody. Officials say he is not considered to have committed a crime under Iraqi law, and is expected to play a leading role in Iraqi politics.

Khazali was handed over to Iraqi forces by the American military 48 hours before the six-year US detention programme in Iraq was due to end. He was among the last Shia prisoners to be freed from a group that at one stage contained thousands of detainees. His transfer, linked to the release of Moore, had been long anticipated and, in accordance with a deal outlined by a Shia militant leader in March, it was immediately followed by the announcement of Moore’s release.

The Foreign Office maintained tonight that Britain does not broker agreements with kidnappers, claiming that the timing of Khazali’s transfer and Moore’s release was a coincidence.

In an apparent reference to the possibility of Khazali’s release, a Foreign Office statement said: “Separately, the government of Iraq is carrying out a process of reconciliation with groups willing to renounce violence and enter the political mainstream.” It added: “Hostage taking is not compatible with political reconciliation.”

The release of the bodies of three of Moore’s four guards, however, coincided closely with a phased release of Shia prisoners, belonging to the hardline group, the Righteous League – which was a key player in the kidnapping – and loyalists of the Shia cleric Muqtadr al-Sadr. This was a key demand of the Righteous League.

The Righteous League is a proxy of an arm of the Iranian military’s Revolutionary Guard unit, known as the al-Quds brigades, and maintains close links to Iran.

The Guardian revealed that Iran had ordered and directed the kidnapping. Guardian sources, including an Iraqi cabinet minister, revealed that all five Britons are believed to have been transferred to Iran within days of their kidnapping.

The Tehran government denied Iranian involvement, as did Sami al-Askari, an Iraqi negotiator involved in the talks over the Britons’ fate.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/31/british-hostage-iraq-body-release

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In this New Year, We wish you the best year you have ever had, And that each New Year, Will be better than the last! May you realize your fondest dreams And take time to recognise & enjoy each and every blessing! Wishing You All A Happy New Year Mariah Connection Team

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