The bodies of two British bodyguards among five men held hostage in Iraq for two years were identified and named yesterday, as London called for the release of the remaining captives.
The remains were "highly likely" to be those of Jason Swindlehurst, 38, from Skelmersdale in northwest England, and Jason Creswell, 39, from the Scottish city of Glasgow, the British Foreign Office said.
They were among four guards protecting British computer consultant Peter Moore when around 40 heavily armed militants seized all five men in Baghdad in May 2007.
The bodies of the two bodyguards were handed over to the British embassy in the Iraqi capital on Friday.
Unconfirmed reports said they died some months ago, but no details of the cause of death were released. The kidnappers have claimed that one of the men committed suicide.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office said it was conducting DNA tests on the remains.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent his condolences to the families of the dead men and called on their captors to free the three remaining Britons.
"There is no justification for hostage-taking and I call on those holding them to release them immediately," he said.
A Foreign Office statement said officials were "in close contact" with all the families and that "our thoughts are with them at this sad time".
It added: "We continue to do everything we can towards the safe release of the other hostages".
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted Saturday that the threat to the men still being held remained "very high indeed" and that they were in "grave danger".
Mr Swindlehurst and Mr Creswell were employed by the Canadian firm GardaWorld, one of the security contractors used by companies to protect their staff in the violent streets of Iraq.
Mr Moore works for US management consultancy BearingPoint.
In Baghdad, the Iraqi government did not elaborate on Saturday on whether a deal had been struck for the release of the hostages' bodies, after an Iraqi militant whose group was suspected of kidnapping the men was freed from a US prison.
Laith al-Khazaali, whose League of the Righteous claims to be holding the hostages, was released on June 9. He had a brief reunion with his parents in Baghdad before fleeing.
The British Foreign Office insists it does not do deals with hostage-takers.
Before the identities were released, Mr Moore's father Graeme criticised London's handling of the cases, saying the families had not been given enough information.
"The government have not been good enough throughout," he said.