THE MAN leading a Shia militant group that kidnapped and killed four bodyguards including two Scots has issued an apology.
But Sheik Qais al Khazali, the leader of Asaib Ahl al Haq (League of the Righteous) said the UK was to blame for the tragedy.
IT expert Peter Moore, was kidnapped in Iraq in 2007 and released two years later.
Glasgow-born Jason Cresswell, 39, latterly of Portlethen, near Aberdeen and Alan McMenemy, 34, of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, Alec MacLachlan, 30, from South Wales and Jason Swindlehurst, 38, of Lancashire were killed by their captors, who had originally been taken for hostage exchange. Sheik Qais al Khazali said Britain "was not serious" in negotiations and had regarded the bodyguards as "second-class citizens". He said was in prison when Mr Moore and his team were taken and said he was sorry for the deaths, adding the kidnaps and the killings should never have happened.
"I think that the British government is responsible for their deaths because it was not serious in the negotiations with the side that held them. If they were fast enough that wouldn't have happened. The British government concentrated only on Peter Moore. The bodyguards were second-class citizens. That was a surprise for us."
League of the Righteous is now a political force, as well as a military force, in Iraq.
The four security guards were abducted with Mr Moore as they escorted him to the Iraqi finance ministry.Around 50 to 100 militants in police uniforms ambushed the building, blindfolding the men and bundling them into a vehicle.
The group were moved every few months to different locations. A film shot by the kidnappers showed Mr McMenemy in a withdrawn state as he spoke of his psychological turmoil over his captivity.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article