BBC: Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has made a direct appeal for the freedom of five British hostages who were abducted in Iraq last year.
In a video, released through the Times newspaper, he addressed the kidnappers as "honourable men" and "men of faith".
The four guards and a computer expert were seized from Baghdad's finance ministry by gunmen on 29 May.
Whitehall sources told the BBC Lord Carey did not speak for the government and it preferred discreet negotiation.
The former Archbishop, speaking in English and Arabic, recorded his appeal on Friday at the House of Lords, accompanied by Canon Andrew White, his former Middle East envoy and now Anglican chaplain to Iraq, the Times said.
"I greet you as honourable men. I greet you as men of faith. I believe, as you do, that faith is important in this broken world," Lord Carey said.
"I appeal to you, as good people, to release these men who long to be back home once more." Carey Makes New Iraq Hostage Plea >>> | May May 16, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)
