Peter Moore, one of five British men taken hostage in Iraq in May 2007, spent years working as a volunteer in both Guyana and China before he was kidnapped in Iraq and finally freed yesterday, the BBC said.
The 36-year-old from Lincoln was working for American management consultancy Bearingpoint when he was seized at Baghdad’s Ministry of Finance.
Four other men captured at the same time were contractors employed to guard him. At least three are known to have been killed, the BBC reported yesterday.
Koenraad Backers, 39, a business consultant from Holland, told the BBC that he and Moore both started working for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Guyana in 2004.
In Guyana, Moore started out teaching computer science at a teacher training college, before working as an IT consultant for the Lands and Survey department, the BBC said.
His last role was at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, but Backers said his friend had fallen in love with the country.
“He really wanted to settle in Guyana but needed money to do so – which is why he went to Iraq. He planned to do consultancy work for about four to six months, but it was way more dangerous than he expected.
“When he got there, he wanted to get out. He witnessed bomb attacks, he was constrained to a small area, he didn’t feel safe,” Backers told the BBC.
Another of Moore’s friends from Guyana, Stuart May, said everyone in Guyana was “thrilled” he had been released.
“I was the one who dropped Pete off at the airport when he left Guyana and headed off to Iraq.
“When I heard the news I was very emotional because I can now look forward to completing the journey when I pick him up”, he told the BBC