The Lancashire mother of freed Iraqui hostage Peter Moore has told how his release has lifted a "big black cloud" from his family.
Preparations are under way for the homecoming of Mr Moore, of Lincoln, at the end of two and a half years of captivity in Iraq.
Avril Sweeney, 54, in Thornton Cleveleys, said the years of his imprisonment had been "horrendous".
Speaking to the Daily Mirror at her home in Blackpool, Lancs, she said: “On Saturday morning I got a call saying they had two bodies, that was quite horrendous.
“I was stuck out in Tenerife and couldn’t get hold of anyone to speak to about it.
“My family liaison officer rang me to say it wasn’t Peter. I’m really pleased to be back in the country so I can keep up with everything.”
The bodies of Alec MacLachlan, Jason Swindlehurst, of Skelmersdale, and Jason Creswell were passed to British authorities earlier this year and the Foreign Office believes the fourth - Alan McMenemy - is also dead.
Avril said: “My heart goes out to the families. My thoughts are with them. What it was like for me, what I went through over this weekend was bad enough. I can’t even imagine how they’re feeling. I couldn’t even describe what they are going through now, I couldn’t even describe how they’re feeling.”
Avril, who split from Peter’s dad Graeme Moore six months after he was born, added: “You have to be optimistic and you always have to think the best situation will happen.
“But because of the developments this weekend part of me knows how volatile the situation is and how it can change at any point.”
Following his surprise release on Wednesday morning, Mr Moore spent the night at the British Embassy in Baghdad, where he is receiving medical attention and support ahead of his return home.
The Foreign Office was unable to say whether he would fly back to Britain on Thursday.
The 36-year-old computer expert is believed to have been in solitary confinement for most of the last 31 months, since being kidnapped along with his four British bodyguards by militants posing as police at the finance ministry in Baghdad on May 29, 2007.
Family members on Wednesday indicated that he did not know the fate of his four fellow-captives.
Speculation was mounting that Mr Moore was freed in return for the release from US custody of a leading Shi'ite insurgent.
Qais al-Khazali is a leader of the Asaib al-Haq group, which is believed to be behind the abduction of the five Britons, and it is thought that his release was one of the kidnappers' key demands. He was handed over to Iraqi authorities along with a number of other detainees, and officials said he would be set free unless evidence is found to support a prosecution in the domestic legal system.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband insists that no "substantive concessions" were made to the hostage-takers by the UK, and the Foreign Office last night said Mr Moore's release was "completely separate" from the handover of Khazali which took place under the terms of an agreement between the US and Iraqi governments.
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