Iraq duo kidnap pledge

Mar 23 2008 by James McCarthy, Wales On Sunday

THE Foreign Office has reassured the families of two Welshmen kidnapped in Iraq last year they are still doing their best to track them down.

The pair, 28-year-old bodyguard Alec MaClachlan from Llanelli, and an as yet unnamed Cardiff man, were among five British citizens snatched at gunpoint from Baghdad’s finance ministry building in broad daylight on May 29 by 40 Iraqis clad in police and army uniforms.

After being bundled into cars, they were driven off towards Sadr City, a suburb of the capital, in a 19-strong convoy.

The Foreign Office believes the men are still alive.

A spokesman said: “Officials from the embassy are in touch with the Iraqi authorities and others who may be able to help. We are doing everything we can to secure a swift and safe resolution.

“Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials are in close touch with the individuals’ families and with their employers.”

In December the men’s captors threatened on video to kill their prisoners unless UK forces pulled out of Iraq “in 10 days”.

Flanked by two masked gunmen and sitting beneath a banner reading ‘The Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq’, a hostage said: “My name is Jason. I’ve been here for 173 days and I feel we’ve been forgotten.”

A Foreign Office spokesman added: “No matter what the cause, hostage taking can never be justified.

“We again call on those holding the men to release them unconditionally.”