London - The British government Thursday appealed for the immediate release of five hostages captured in Iraq two years ago as the families of the captives said they were hopeful about their freedom. British IT consultant Peter Moore and four security guards were seized by about 40 armed men, disguised as police officers, in an audacious attack on a meeting in the Finance Ministry in Baghdad on May 29, 2007.
Moore had been working for American management consultancy Bearingpoint when he was kidnapped, while the other men were contractors employed to guard him.
To mark the second anniversary, Foreign Secretary David Miliband Thursday called for the "immediate and unconditional" release of the hostages.
"We call on those holding all hostages to release them immediately and unconditionally and return them safely to their families where they belong," said Miliband in a statement.
Their captors, a group called the Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq, is reported to demand the freedom of militants from US custody.
Relatives of the hostages have told the BBC that they were "hopeful" of a release following the release of a video of Moore in March.
According to a BBC report Thursday, freedom for the five men had been "tantalisingly close" earlier this year.
