Global Arab Network | Hope for British hostages after release of Iraqi militant

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Hope for British hostages after release of Iraqi militant

Hopes grew for the release of five British men kidnapped in Iraq after the US military freed a prominent insurgent connected to the hostage takers.
The surprise release of a Shiite militant linked to the killing of 5 U.S. soldiers in Iraq is part of a high-stakes gambit that could result in freedom for five British hostages and a political role for a major Shiite extremist group with reputed ties to Iran.

Laith al-Khazali, a leading figure in the Asaib al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, was freed from U.S. custody over the weekend and taken to his home in Baghdad's Sadr City district, according to Iraqi officials involved in negotiations for his release.

The kidnappers have repeatedly demanded the release of Mr al-Khazali and his brother Qais, along with eight other detainees, in return for Peter Moore, a computer consultant, and his four security guards.

Sami al-Askari, an Iraqi MP, said he hoped that the five Britons would be freed soon. “Hopefully [it] will happen in the next few weeks or months,” he told The Times. Mr al-Askari said that Asaib al-Haq, which has been negotiating with the Iraqi Government since last year, had renounced violence.
“The Government put it very clearly to them that they cannot participate in the political process while they are holding hostages, and I believe that they do want to take part in this process, so I expect that they will release the hostages,” he said.
The MP said that the group refused to deal with British or US officials.

British and Iraqi officials have dismissed the idea of a prisoner exchange. They say that alKhazali’s release is related to reconciliation efforts and the release or transfer to Iraqi jurisdiction of about 11,000 men held in US detention in Iraq.

Danny Chism, whose son, Spc. Johnathan Bryan Chism, was among the Americans killed, was outraged upon hearing that al-Khazali had been released. "Somebody needs to answer for it," he said from his home in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
But the case of the al-Khazali brothers has morphed beyond the Karbala attack into a major political issue, involving the British government and Iraq's Shiite-led government attempting to resolve differences with rival Shiite factions.

Two months after the al-Khazali brothers were arrested, gunmen believed to be from the League seized British management consultant Peter Moore and four of his bodyguards from the Finance Ministry compound in central Baghdad.
Secret negotiations have been under way for months for their release in exchange for freedom for the al-Khazali brothers and others from the League, one of the Shiite "special groups" that the U.S. believes are backed by Iran.

The U.S. military declined comment on the release and referred questions to the Iraqi government, which described the move as part of "reconciliation efforts."
"His release is part of the national reconciliation effort," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said. "We are not part of these negotiations but we do support the release of the hostages."

An FCO spokesman said: 'The government of Iraq is engaged in a reconciliation process with groups willing to set aside violence in favour of political engagement.
'Part of the process is the releasing of coalition detainees, or their transfer into the custody of the government of Iraq.
'We can confirm that, as part of this process, Laith Khazali was released into the custody of the government of Iraq on June 6 by US forces.'
British_hostages

On the second anniversary of the kidnapping on May 29, the British men's families spoke of their continuing hopes for their loved ones' release.

However, Iraqi lawmakers and others with links to Shiite militants said the release was part of a complex series of contacts aimed at releasing the British hostages and offering the League of the Righteous a political role in return for abandoning violence.
Portraying the ultimate goal as abandoning violence makes the process more politically acceptable than a simple hostage exchange with a militant group.

The lawmakers and others spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive.
They said the kidnappers had agreed to free the hostages in stages in exchange for the phased release of League members, starting with Laith al-Khazali. (The Times, Dailymail, AP, channel4, Reuters)

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