Freed British hostage says he wasn’t in Iran

The British hostage released this week by his Iraqi captors said Iran was not involved in his kidnapping.

Peter Moore, named two locations where he was held during his 2 1/2 years of captivity during a debriefing, The Times of London reported Friday. He also told investigators he last saw the four other men snatched with him about 18 months ago.

Moore’s comments bolsters the British Foreign Ministry’s stance that it has no evidence indicating Iran was directly involved in the kidnappings or that the hostages were held in Iran, The Times said.

U.S. regional military commander Gen. David Petraeus disagrees and said Moore spent at least part of his time in captivity in neighboring Iran

“Our intelligence assessment is that he certainly has spent part of the time, at the very least, in Iran, part of the time that he was a hostage,” Petraeus told reporters in Baghdad today during a briefing aired by al-Iraqiya Television. UPI, BW