[Al Arabiya Latest] An Iraqi government spokesman said on Sunday that a fifth British hostage, captured in Iraq in 2007, may be handed over to British authorities in the coming days.Ali al-Dabbagh said he hoped security guard Alan McMenemy was still alive, but could not confirm it. British authorities said they believe he is dead and have called for his body to be returned.
McMenemy, 34, was one of four security guards for Peter Moore, 36, a computer consultant who was released unharmed on Wednesday by the League of the Righteous group, 31 months after the kidnapping.
All four of his bodyguards, also Britons, have since been killed.
The bodies of three--Alec MacLachlan, 30, Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39--were handed over to British officials last year.
Moore returned to Britain on Friday, and said in a statement released by the Foreign Office that he was "delighted to have returned to the UK and to have been reunited with my family."
"We hope McMenemy is still alive. The Iraqi government is seeking his release and his handover. That will be soon, God willing," Dabbagh said.
"This is part of the release process. All must be handed over to the British embassy. And that is what will happen in the coming days," he added.