Revealed: hand of Iran behind Britons' Baghdad kidnapping

[Bozita]

Source: Guardian UK

Revealed: hand of Iran behind Britons' Baghdad kidnapping
• Hostage released after two years
• Shia cleric freed as part of deal
• Aid money at heart of abduction

Mona Mahmood, Maggie O'Kane, Guy Grandjean
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 December 2009 21.30 GMT
Article history


The five British men kidnapped in Iraq were taken in an operation led and masterminded by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, according to evidence uncovered during an extensive investigation by the Guardian.

The men – including Peter Moore, who was released today after more than two years in captivity – were taken to Iran within a day of their kidnap from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007, several senior sources in Iraq and Iran have told the Guardian.

They were incarcerated in prisons run by the al-Quds force, a unit that specialises in foreign operations on behalf of the Iranian government.

One of the kidnappers has told this paper that three of the Britons – Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan – were subsequently killed after the British government refused to take ransom demands seriously.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/iran-britons-baghdad-kidnapping

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Video at link.

[EFerrari]

1. What a story. And there's still one man not accounted for.

:wow:

[Turborama]

2. Bush threats and an $18bn secret: why Iran's kidnap squad decided to strike

Britons kidnapped to stop diversion of huge funds to Iran being exposed, sources claim

Mona Mahmood, Maggie O'Kane, Guy Grandjean
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 December 2009 21.30 GMT

Abu Kuther sits in the candlelight, casually flicking his left wrist and sending a long string of prayer beads arching into the air. "There is a famous Arabic saying," he says. "There are many ways to die but death is always the same."

Kuther, interviewed in a secret location in Baghdad for the Guardian, said he was one of the kidnappers of five Britons taken from a government ministry building in the Baghdad in May 2007.

He has told the Guardian that he was a member of militia group called the "Righteous League" – what he doesn't admit is that the league is a front for the Iranian Quds force created, trained and funded by Iran, and that the kidnapping of the five Britons was led by al-Quds force commandos.

The kidnapper spoke to the Guardian after being identified by a senior leader for the Righteous League and a member of the family of the man later exchanged as part of the deal which saw Peter Moore's freedom.

A year-long investigation by the Guardian can reveal that Iran's Islamic regime – and specifically the al-Quds force – was heavily involved in the kidnapping of the five men.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/31/british-hostages-baghdad-iraq-iran

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Revealed: evidence of Iran's involvement in the kidnapping of the five Britons in Baghdad
Following a year-long investigation, GuardianFilms has exclusively uncovered the story of what happened to the five Britons kidnapped in Iraq on 29 May 2007, as the only survivor, Peter Moore, is released

Eye opening 32 minute documentary: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/dec/30/iraq-hostage-peter-moore-release

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As I pointed out in http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4203783&mesg_id=4204090">the other thread about his release:

There's a lot of evidence that shows Iraqi government officials were involved with the kidnapping

Lots of info on the Guardian's website here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/british-hostages-in-iraq

This short 13 minute documentary is the most conclusive account that shows there must have been collusion:

British hostages: claims of Iraqi government collusion
A Guardian investigation reveals allegations that high-ranking Iraqi government officials were involved in the kidnapping of five Britons in Baghdad: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/jul/30/british-hostages-iraq-government

[BunkerHill24]

3. UK Foreign Office has no evidence Iranian involvement

reuters, 2009/12/31 11:33

LONDON (Reuters) – The government played down a report on Thursday that Iran masterminded the kidnapping in Iraq of a British man held hostage for more than 2-1/2 years, saying there was no firm evidence of direct Iranian involvement.

http://www.euronews.net/newswires/112681-uk-plays-down-report-iran-directed-hostage-taking/