Lord Carey of Clifton recorded a video statement addressing the kidnappers as "honourable men" and "men of faith", calling on them to release their victims, kidnapped last May.

In the footage, issued through The Times, Lord Carey said: "You believe, as I do, that faith is important in this broken world.

"I appeal to you, as good people, to release these men who long to be back home once more."

He addressed the kidnappers directly, speaking to them in English and Arabic. The footage was recorded at the House of Lords and Lord Carey was accompanied by Canon Andrew White, his former Middle East envoy, who is now Anglican chaplain to Iraq.

As part of his role, Canon White has spent much of the past year working with Iraqi religious and tribal leaders to try to engage with the hostage takers.

The British men, who include four security guards and an IT consultant, were captured by gunmen at the Iraqi Ministry of Finance on May 29 last year.

One of the hostages is Peter Moore, an IT consultant from Lincoln who was working in Iraq for BearingPoint, an American management consultancy.

The identities of the four other men have not been confirmed but it is known they were employed by the Canadian security firm GardaWorld to protect Mr Moore.

In December the kidnappers released a video of one the hostages apparently flanked by two gunmen which was shown on Dubai-based TV station Al-Arabiya.