He added: “We will work with the Iraqi authorities to secure the release of hostages as soon as possible.”
In February last year, a video broadcast by Dubai-based TV station Al-Arabiya showed a tired-looking Peter Moore asking Gordon Brown to free nine Iraqis in exchange for the British hostages.
Responsibility for the kidnapping was at first pinned on Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.
It was thought to be a retaliatory attack for the killing by British forces of the militia’s commander in Basra, southern Iraq.
The release of a leading Iraqi militant by US forces earlier this month sparked fresh hopes the kidnapped Britons could be freed.
The US military handed Shi’ite insurgent Laith al-Khazali over to the Iraqi authorities on June 6.
He is a senior member of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, which has been linked to the kidnapping.
