Iraq drama honoured by US film critics

Iraq drama The Hurt Locker has been named the best picture of 2009 by the National Society of Film Critics.

The film, about US bomb disposal experts stationed in Baghdad, also won honours for director Kathryn Bigelow and actor Jeremy Renner.

Yolande Moreau was named best actress for her performance in French film Seraphine, about the painter Seraphine de Senlis.

Joel and Ethan Coen won best screenplay for A Serious Man.

The National Society of Film Critics includes 64 critics from leading US publications and websites.

The society often picks foreign films or films popular with critics, and rarely do the winners mirror those at the Oscars, which are set for 7 March this year.

Abusive mother

Other winners included The Beaches of Agnes 40, an autobiographical documentary about the life of director Agnes Varda, which was chosen as the best non-fiction film.

Summer Hours, a story of three siblings by French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, won best foreign language film.

US comedian Mo'Nique, best known for her TV work, was named best supporting actress for her portrayal of an abusive mother in Precious.

Austrian Christoph Waltz won for best supporting actor for his work as a charismatic Gestapo officer in Quentin Tarentino's Inglourious Basterds.

Last month, The Hurt Locker was named the best picture of 2009 by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

It also featured in the American Film Institute's annual rundown of the year's 10 best movies.

UK hostage Peter Moore released alive in Iraq

British hostage Peter Moore has been released alive from captivity in Iraq, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

He said Mr Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln who was seized in Baghdad in May 2007, was in good health and "absolutely delighted at his release".

Mr Miliband said the Moore family felt deep relief after two-and-a-half years of "misery, fear and uncertainty".

Four bodyguards were seized with Mr Moore. Three were shot dead; the fourth is also thought to have been killed.

The bodies of Jason Swindlehurst, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Jason Creswell, of Glasgow, were returned to the UK in June 2009, followed by that of Alec MacLachlan, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, in September.

Mr Miliband has called for the release of the body of the fourth guard - Alan McMenemy from Glasgow.

Mr Miliband said Mr Moore, who had been released on Wednesday morning, was in the British Embassy in Baghdad and would be reunited with his family as soon as possible.

Mr Moore's stepmother Pauline Sweeney told the BBC that hearing of his release was "the best Christmas present ever".

"We spoke to him this morning. I just burst into tears and kept asking if it was true. He sounds really well, very upbeat, he's cracking jokes," she said.

"He said when they came in to him this morning, he thought he was going out to a bullet in his head.

"He had seen quite a few of the appeal broadcasts, which kept him going and made him realise there were people out there fighting for him and that he wasn't forgotten."

The foreign secretary said he had had a "very moving" conversation with Mr Moore, who was "to put it mildly, absolutely delighted". He is undergoing medical checks.

Mr Miliband said: "The joy and relief that will be felt by Peter's family will be mirrored by the continuing anguish of the family of Alan McMenemy.

"We have believed for some time that he has been killed and his family have been told our view of his likely fate."

The foreign secretary also told the BBC there were no concessions or deals made to secure Mr Moore's release.

"This was an Iraqi-led process of political reconciliation in which an armed group has made vows to come within the political system and to renounce violence, and that's the foundation of Peter Moore's release," he said.

Mr Moore had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq. The other men were security contractors employed to guard him.

The group was captured at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance by about 40 men disguised as Iraqi policemen.

They were understood to belong to an obscure militia known as the Islamic Shia Resistance, which demanded the release of up to nine of their associates held in US military custody since early 2007.

Several had already been handed to the Iraqi government and some had since been freed under the reconciliation process.

'Key' figure released

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said it appeared "some kind of deal" had been done, though not necessarily involving the British government.

"The main person the abductors wanted back, I'm told, is out of US custody... and handed over to the Iraqis," he said.

Qais Al-Khazaali had been suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and eventual killing of five US soldiers, Mr Gardner added.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "I am hugely relieved by the wonderful news that Peter has been freed.

"At this moment of celebration, we also remember the families of British hostages who have been killed in Iraq and elsewhere.

"And we pledge to continue to do everything we can to bring British hostages back to their loved ones."

Mr Moore's father Graeme, 60, from Wigston, Leicestershire, said he was "over the moon" at the news.

He said: "We are so relieved and we just want to get him home, back now to his family and friends.

"I'm breaking down, I'm just so overjoyed for the lad."

His natural mother, Avril Sweeney, 54, from Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, said: "It's like a big black cloud has been hanging over me and it has lifted now.

"I can smile again."

Terry Waite, who himself was a former hostage, said he was absolutely delighted at Mr Moore's release.

He added: "It is both a very happy time for Peter and his family and... while the other families will be delighted for him, there will be that tinge of sadness and one keeps them in mind at this point."

Iran troops 'seize Iraq oil well'

Iranian troops have entered southern Iraqi territory and taken control of an oil well, reports say.

An Iraqi official played down the incident, saying the area was abandoned and right on a disputed border section.

Iranian soldiers crossed the border and raised an Iranian flag over the Fakkah oil field, a US military spokesman told the AFP news agency.

But an Iranian oil company spokesman denied the accusation, saying no troops had taken control of any oil well.

"The company denies Iranian soldiers taking control of any oil well inside Iraqi territory," the National Iranian Oil Company spokesman was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

Confirmation

Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister confirmed the Iranians stayed in Iraq and were in control of the well.

Earlier it was reported that they had withdrawn back across the border.

Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji initially told the Reuters news agency the reports of the Iranian incursion were not true.

But Mr Khafaji later confirmed the incursion had taken place, and said 11 Iranians had dug-in at the oil well and had not left.

"At 3:30 this afternoon, 11 Iranian soldiers infiltrated the Iran-Iraq border and took control of the oil well. They raised the Iranian flag, and they are still there until this moment," he told the Reuters news agency.

He said there had been no military response from Iraqi forces..

"We are awaiting orders from our leader," he said.

The incursion is one of several that have occurred in the last few days, he said.

The well is about 500m from an Iranian border fort and about 1km from an Iraqi fort, US Colonel Peter Newell told AFP.