Relatives of the final Briton being held hostage in Iraq were today clinging to hopes for his release after Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he is still believed to be alive.
The families of security guards Alan McMenemy and Alec MacLachlan were told by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office last week that their loved ones were "very likely" to have died.
This followed the handover of the bodies of fellow hostages Jason Swindlehurst and Jason Creswell to the British Embassy in Baghdad last month. The developments left the family of the fifth captive, IT consultant Peter Moore, desperate for news about his fate.
They received a boost from Mr Brown when he said: "I and the entire Government are committed to doing everything that we can for the release of Peter Moore, whom we still believe to be alive.
"Hostage-taking is never justified and has no place in Iraq's future. I condemn it unreservedly, and once again call on the hostage-takers to release Peter Moore and give us clarity on the fates of Alec MacLachlan and Alan McMenemy."
Mr Moore's stepmother, Pauline Sweeney, pleaded for his release last night.
She said: "We have been to the two funerals, of Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst, and now we are allegedly informed that Alec and Alan are also no longer with us.
"I plead to the hostage-takers to send home the bodies of Alec and Alan so that their parents can have closure and move on.
"And I appeal to them to please let Peter come back alive."
The five Britons - Mr Moore and his four bodyguards - were seized by about 40 armed men wearing police uniforms at the finance ministry in Baghdad on May 29th, 2007.
At first only limited information was released about the case, to the frustration of some friends and relatives of the hostages.
In recent months there were fresh hopes that the men could be freed after the US released a leading Shia insurgent who has been linked to the kidnapping.
But these were dashed when the bodies of Mr Swindlehurst (38) from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Mr Creswell (39) originally from Glasgow, were handed over.
Mr Moore's father, Graeme Moore (59) from Wigston, Leicestershire, said the Foreign Office had mishandled the case.
He said: "Had they handled it right, all five would have been released two years ago, I'm convinced of it."
He told ITV's News at Ten direct negotiations could have resolved the problem within a month.
Appealing to his son's captors, he said: "I would say to them, just please bring Peter home. He's a very nice chap. He was brought up properly by me to be a decent caring person who wouldn't hurt anybody. He was only there, as he saw it, helping to do the IT. He wasn't there for anything else. I would ask: let him come home."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the UK was "in contact with those who are in contact with the hostage takers" and was making every effort to get Mr Moore released.
Speaking after talks with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton in Washington, he said the expectation that the two other men were dead was based on "credible information".
PA