Two British hostages feared dead in Iraq

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Two Britons taken hostage in Iraq in 2007 were feared dead after bodies were handed to British officials in Iraq and three others still missing were in "grave danger," the British government said on Saturday.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the remains passed to them by Iraqi authorities had yet to be formally identified, but the hostages' families will "fear the worst."

"We know only that late last night we received the bodies of two hostages," he said. "Our immediate priority is obviously to liaise with the families and to work on the identities of these men.

"If any proof was needed of the grave danger that those hostages face, it is the appalling news that has come through today. The threat to all those taken hostage in Iraq remains very high indeed."

The Britons, computer instructor Peter Moore and his four bodyguards, were seized by a Shi'ite militant group from inside an Iraqi finance ministry building in Baghdad in May 2007.

Britain was an ally of the United States in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but has now withdrawn all but about 500 troops from the country.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said: "Our information is that the two bodies were handed last night to the British authorities and we believe they are from among the British hostages."

A spokesman for Canadian security company GardaWorld, which employed Moore's four British bodyguards, said he was waiting for more information before commenting.