Brown identified the body as one of five people seized in a raid on the finance ministry [File: AFP]

Gordon Brown made the announcement on Thursday, a day after the body was handed to the UK embassy in Iraq.

"It is with the deepest regret that the body passed to the British embassy today is now discovered to be that of Alec MacLachlan," Brown said.

MacLachlan, a security contractor, was one of five Britons abducted in a raid by Shia fighters on Iraq's finance ministry in 2007.

Pair missing

The body is the third to be returned.

The corpses of two other men were handed over to the UK in June.

The two other captives - IT consultant Peter Moore and Alan McMenemy - remain missing.

The UK believes that Moore, who was being protected by the security contractors at the time of their capture, is still alive.

Brown called on the hostage-takers to release Moore and confirm the fate of McMenemy.

The Shia fighters were dressed as Iraqi policemen when they seized the group.

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