LONDON - PRIME Minister Gordon Brown defended on Monday Britain's handling of the kidnapping of five Britons in Iraq, as one of their fathers branded the foreign minister a 'waste of space' after two died.

Mr Brown said his government had done everything it could to secure the release of a British computer consultant and four security guards kidnapped two years ago in Baghdad.

'We have left no stone unturned in our efforts to release the hostages,' he said, referring to the kidnapping of expert Peter Moore and four guards in Baghdad in May 2007.

'I spoke to Prime Minister (Nuri al-) Maliki in Iraq last night and I emphasised our determination to do everything we can to secure the release of the remaining hostages,' he added.

The bodies of two Britons were handed over to the British embassy in the Iraqi capital on Friday. The Foreign Office said the remains were 'highly likely' to be those of guards Jason Swindlehurst, 38, and Jason Creswell, 39.

They were among four guards protecting Mr Moore when around 40 heavily armed militants seized all five men at the finance ministry in central Baghdad two years ago.

The British government insisted from the start on a low-key approach to the hostage-taking, saying that would be better for the hostages' chances of being released.

But Mr Moore's father Graeme, 59, lashed both Mr Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband over their handling of the case.

'They haven't done anything. They should have been straight in directing negotiations right from the beginning,' he told the broadcaster GMTV. Unfortunately the way Gordon Brown and David Miliband have handled this case is bad news for the other two families... Miliband is a total waste of space,' he said.

And he said: 'We will keep pushing on for Peter. We will do right until the end; until either Peter is released or we get the worst news.' -- AFP