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Kidnapped Britons on videotape Kidnapped Britons on videotape
(30 minutes later)
The Foreign Office says it is studying a video tape issued by the kidnappers of five Britons held in Iraq. The government has condemned a videotape issued by the kidnappers of five Britons held in Iraq.
The tape shows at least one of the hostages, and the Foreign Office says their families have been informed.The tape shows at least one of the hostages, and the Foreign Office says their families have been informed.
The five Britons have been missing since they were taken in May. It is the first time the British Embassy in Baghdad has seen the video. In the tape, one of the men gives his name, says he has been held for 173 days and says "no-one seems to care".
Cobra, the UK government's emergency response team, last had a meeting about the missing five two weeks ago. The five men were seized on 29 May from Baghdad's Finance Ministry building by a mob of gunmen who were disguised as police officers.
They are being held by a Shia militia group calling itself the Islamic Shi'ite Resistance.
No matter what the cause, hostage taking can never be justified Foreign Office spokesman
The tape was broadcast on Al-Arabiya television.The tape was broadcast on Al-Arabiya television.
The Britons - four guards and a computer expert - were kidnapped by Iraqi criminals disguised in police uniforms who initially took them to a Shia suburb. The Britons - four guards and a computer expert - were initially taken to a Shia suburb after being seized.
Condemning the release of the videotape, a Foreign Office spokesman said the video would "add to the distress of the men's families and friends".
"No matter what the cause, hostage taking can never be justified," he said.
"We again call on those holding the men to release them unconditionally."
Consular officials had remained in regular contact with the families of the men, the spokesman added.
'Ordinary men'
In the tape, filmed in front of a banner with a Shia emblem and dated 18 November, the kidnappers demand the withdrawal of British forces within 10 days - a deadline which has passed.In the tape, filmed in front of a banner with a Shia emblem and dated 18 November, the kidnappers demand the withdrawal of British forces within 10 days - a deadline which has passed.
They do not make specific threats about what they would do if there was no withdrawal.They do not make specific threats about what they would do if there was no withdrawal.
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said that, up until now, the Foreign Office has not wanted to discuss the kidnapping because officials do not want anything to get in the way pf their negotiations through third parties to get the men released.BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said that, up until now, the Foreign Office has not wanted to discuss the kidnapping because officials do not want anything to get in the way pf their negotiations through third parties to get the men released.
The kidnap had been carried out by one of the Shia militia groups in Iraq, our correspondent added. In September, the families of the five men urged their captors to end their "torment" of being separated from "ordinary family men".
The statement continued: "They are sons, fathers and brothers who were working to support us - their families.
"We miss them so much and want them to come home to us so that our families can be complete again and our children no longer have to endure the pain of missing their fathers."