Extremists deny British hostage was mistreated in Iraq
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Your support makes all the difference.A Shia extremist group has discounted claims from a former British hostage that he was mistreated.
The 40-second video depicts Peter Moore counting prayer beads while lying on a mattress inside a simple room with a dirt floor. He is also shown watching TV, playing with a small child, eating an orange, writing, and exercising on a treadmill.
Moore's release was a rare positive outcome for a foreign hostage held in Iraq. Three of Moore's bodyguards had died and the fourth is also believed to be dead.
Information technology specialist, Moore, 36, worked in Iraq for BearingPoint, a US-based management consulting firm.
In interviews last week, Moore described to Channel 4 News how he was led handcuffed to a mock execution, told to kneel down and felt a gun being put to his head. He said, at that moment, he thought he was dead.
He also recounted his ordeal to The Times, describing how he lay on a mat on the floor, blindfolded, handcuffed and chained by one ankle to a metal grille over a window in a small room he believed was somewhere in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.
The group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, which was believed to hold Moore and the others, agreed last year after a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to lay down its arms and join the political process, raising hopes for Moore's release.
In return, authorities agreed to seek the release of the group's members in US custody.
In the statement Monday, the group — known in English as the League of the Righteous — accused Moore of "deliberately lying to spoil the reputation of the Islamic resistance."
"We deny the lies he said and assure all that we had treated him well," it said. "To confirm our position, we are showing you a video of Moore's circumstances while in custody."
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