UK recovers body of British hostage killed in Iraq

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:16 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The body of British bodyguard Alan McMenemy has been returned more than four years after he was kidnapped in Iraq, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Friday.

McMenemy and three other bodyguards abducted in 2007 by a Shi'ite Muslim militia were killed when they tried to escape, a Shi'ite cleric who heads the group said earlier this month.

The bodies of the other bodyguards were handed over to British authorities in Baghdad during 2009 while Peter Moore, a computer programmer abducted with the bodyguards, was released alive at the end of the same year.

McMenemy's body was handed over to the British embassy in Baghdad on Friday, Cameron said in a statement.

"My thoughts are with Alan's family and friends at this time. They have waited so long for his return and I hope that this will allow them to find some peace after an ordeal that no family should ever have to suffer," he said.

McMenemy was kidnapped in May 2007 by an Iraqi Shi'ite militia, Asaib al-Haq, or Leagues of Righteousness, along with Moore and three other British bodyguards.

Qais al-Khazali, a Shi'ite cleric who leads Asaib al-Haq, did not say when the bodyguards tried to escape and were killed. But he said his movement was willing to return McMenemy's body without conditions.

McMenemy's wife Roseleen said she would now be able to grieve properly for her husband. "Our families have suffered terrible uncertainty and distress over the past 4 years and 8 months," she said in a statement.

"We have worried about Alan every single minute of each waking day. We now know that we will shortly have Alan home again. This will allow us to properly grieve for him and we will draw some comfort from the fact that we have him home at last." (Reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Mark Heinrich)