October 8, 2004
Jeremy Reynalds
P O Box 27693
Alb., NM 87125-7693
Tel: (505) 400-7145
www.joyjunction.org
British Hostage Ken Bigley Reportedly Murdered
A video seen by an Arabic television has reportedly shown the beheading of British hostage Ken Bigley.
Asked to comment on the report, Bigley's brother Paul told Reuters in London, "I have heard nothing at all. I have been optimistic and remain optimistic. I am praying this news is not true."
Iraqi Interior Ministry officials in Baghdad, Reuters reported, said they had no information on the report.
A British embassy spokeswoman said she could not confirm the information, Reuters reported.
There was no immediate confirmation of the execution on HostingAnime.com/iraqnews3, a site which has shown most of the horrific beheadings of the last few months.
A comment in English on the otherwise all-Arabic site still reads, "Does a British civilian mean anything to Blair? Will. He try to save this hostage of will he not care?"
However, when videos of prior executions have been posted on this site it has usually been at least 36 to 48 hours after the execution.
But the British Foreign Office is still checking claims of Bigley's murder.
A witness who saw the footage, Sky News reported, said it showed Bigley in an orange jump suit making a statement in front of six militants before he was murdered.
The witness was reportedly a journalist who viewed the tape at the office of a foreign news organization in Baghdad.
Insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah had said they believed Bigley was killed on Thursday in the town of Latifiyah, 22 miles south-west of Baghdad, Sky News reported.
The captive's family had begged Tony Blair to step in and attempt to secure his release.
Bigley, an engineer, was abducted in Baghdad along with fellow construction workers Americans Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong three weeks ago.
An Abu Dhabi television news reporter said the video footage cited the U.S. operation in the Latifiyah area and a hope to heap political pressure on Blair as among the reasons for his reported death.
British embassy staff in Thailand, Sky News reported, said they were in "close contact" with his wife, Sombat.
The Tawhid and Jihad terrorist group beheaded the two Americans within a week and their remains were found in the Iraqi capital.
Abu Musab al Zarqawi, one of Washington's most wanted men, is believed to have killed at least one of the two Americans.
The men's kidnappers had initially called for the release of all women prisoners held in US-run prisons, but their demands later appeared to change.
The horrific alert comes just 24 hours after Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said there were promising behind-the-scenes maneuvers to secure Bigley's release, Sky News reported.
If the report of Bigley's execution is true, he would be the first British captive killed since Coalition forces invaded Iraq in March 2003.
Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt said the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and his colleagues at the Foreign Office were doing all they could.
Sky News reported she said, "Our top priority is to find out if the reports are true. We have to do everything possible and hope that they are not confirmed."
Hewitt reiterated to Sky News that the British Government does not negotiate with terrorists.
News 24.com said this is not the first time reports have appeared of Bigley's death. But a previous claim on an internet website that he had been killed was quickly dismissed as unreliable.
The captors appeared to use Bigley as a pawn, News 24 reported, releasing videos of him pleading for his life and criticizing Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Bigley's Irish-born mother Lil, 86, who has been treated at a hospital emergency room several times during the crisis, was at the family home in Liverpool on Friday afternoon, with her other sons, Stan, 65, and Philip, 49, News 24 reported. It was not known where Kenneth Bigley's son, Craig, 33, was.
According to News 24 a policewoman was stationed outside the Bigley house, with TV cameras and reporters waiting for more news in the street.
Scotsman.com reported that a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, which sent a delegation to Iraq last month to try and win Bigley's release said, "We are appalled and profoundly saddened by the cold-blooded murder of Kenneth Bigley after a protracted period of mental torture and anguish. We offer our heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the family who have gone through the most dreadful experiences. Throughout this terrible ordeal, we have kept close contact with the family."
The Council's general secretary Iqbal Sacranie said, Scotsman.com reported, "There is absolutely no justification for the killing of this defenseless individual. This is a deed which is deeply repugnant and utterly reprehensible. We unequivocally condemn it and hope his murderers are brought to justice quickly."
He added the action was "completely and utterly rejected" by the vast majority of the Muslim community."