The five Britons captured in Iraq could be used as bargaining tools to secure the release of hundreds of Shia prisoners of war being held in Basra
Iraqi police guard the building where the Britons were snatched A senior official in the Mahdi army militia told The Daily Telegraph that the captives - four security guards and a computer expert - had been taken to put pressure on Tony Blair and George Bush.
"We are holding the British until they release our brothers from Camp Bucca in Basra," the cell commander said. "There are hundreds there under British security, some of them for years. When they are released the British will be allowed to go."
Hundreds of US and Iraqi troops carried out raids yesterday in Sadr City - the Baghdad Shia suburb which is a Mahdi army stronghold - as more information about the kidnap became clear. Immediately after the Britons were snatched from a finance ministry building in Baghdad on Tuesday, they were driven to a "hostage holding" centre near Sadr City's Mudafra Square, from where they were expected to be moved frequently to avoid detection.
Whitehall's emergency response unit, Cobra, met again yesterday and Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said officials were working closely with the Iraqi authorities and doing everything they could to secure the captives' "swift and safe release". Mr Blair, on a visit to Sierra Leone, said: "We know the dangers and challenges there but we shouldn't let those that are prepared to use kidnapping and terror succeed." The Foreign Office said there was "no firm indication yet" as to who was behind the abductions.
The Mahdi army official said the order to seize the hostages was handed down by Hassan Salim, the militia's leading figure. He said the group was seeking to emulate what it saw as the successful outcome of the recent seizure of the 15 British sailors by its allies in the Iranian government. He added that the militia's demands had already been passed to Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, a Shia Muslim close to the Mahdi army's political wing.
There has been no official confirmation of any demands being made.
The official was directly contradicted by Sheikh Abdel al-Sattar al-Bahad, a senior aide to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to whom the Mahdi army is intensely loyal. He denied any involvement by the Mahdi army.
GardaWorld, the Canadian security contractor which employs the security guards, and BearingPoint, a US management consultancy which employs the computer expert, said they were continuing to hope for the men's safe release. Their identities have not yet been released. The men were snatched by up to 40 men, some in police uniforms. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, said it had been known "for some time" that insurgents had infiltrated the police and security services. For the kidnappers to act with such confidence they "must have some connection", he added. 
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