British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has discussed with his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, the airing of a video apparently showing a British hostage held in Iraq, the government in London said Wednesday, according to dpa. A spokesman said Brown had spoken to al-Maliki on the phone Wednesday. Both had "deplored the taking and public parading of hostages and agreed to continue their close cooperation to secure their early release." Confirmation of the contact between the two leaders came after Dubai's Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel Tuesday broadcast a video appearing to show one of five British men kidnapped in Baghdad last May. The bearded man, giving his name as Peter Moore, appealed to Brown to respond to the abductors' demand to free nine Iraqis held by coalition forces in return for the five Britons.
