PM defends handling of Iraq kidnaps

The bodies of two of the five captives were handed over to the Iraqi authorities this weekend, but the father of one of those still missing hit out at the way the Foreign Office had dealt with the issue.

Graeme Moore told GMTV: "They haven't done anything. They should have been straight in directing negotiations right from the beginning."

The Prime Minister defended the handling of the kidnapping, telling reporters: "I can assure you that we have left no stone unturned in our efforts to release the hostages, to work with the Iraqi authorities to maintain our vigilance about what needs to be done, and to look at all possible means by which we could free them."

Mr Moore, 59, is anxiously awaiting news of the fate of his son, IT consultant Peter Moore, from Lincoln, following the weekend's grim developments.

British officials confirmed on Sunday two of the hostages - security guards Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst - were dead. They were among a group of five Britons, also including Mr Moore and two other guards identified only as Alan from Scotland and Alec from South Wales, kidnapped in Baghdad in May 2007.

There had been fresh hope in recent weeks that the men could be freed shortly after the release of a senior Iraqi insurgent at the start of this month.

Mr Moore, a delivery driver from Leicestershire, said he continued to hope his son was alive but added that waiting for confirmation was "torture".

He strongly criticised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for not doing enough to help the men and singled out Mr Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband for particular criticism. "Unfortunately the way Gordon Brown and David Miliband have handled this case is bad news for the other two families," he said. "(Mr) Miliband is a total waste of space."

The Prime Minister, who on Sunday night spoke to Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki, sent his condolences to the families of the dead men and said the bodies would be returned to them "very soon".