British hostage endured mock executions in Iraq

On another occasion, his captors put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, firing a real round from another weapon at the same time.

"I remember thinking I'm dead. It's not that bad. It's not that painful. And then, hold on, I'm handcuffed and still blindfolded and I can hear people laughing."

Moore said his kidnappers made it clear they wanted several leaders of their group -- the League of the Righteous -- held by the Americans to be released in exchange for him.

Several of the group's members were among batches of Iraqis freed from U.S. detention and eventually, at the end of December, Moore was driven to a rendezvous with an Iraqi MP and told he was being released.

He said he did not believe he was being set free until he was taken to the British embassy in Baghdad and felt safe only when he was back in Britain.

(Reporting by Tim Pearce; editing by Andrew Dobbie)