Ahern in al-Jazeera appeal for life of Bigley

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has intervened to try to secure the release of British hostage Mr Ken Bigley.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has intervened to try to secure the release of British hostage Mr Ken Bigley.

In a statement last night to Arabic news station, al-Jazeera, Mr Ahern asked the men who kidnapped Mr Bigley in Iraq to release him. "There is every reason to release him and no justifiable reason for causing him harm. I would appeal to Mr Bigley's captors to return him safe and sound to his family," Mr Ahern said.

A Government spokeswoman said last night that Mr Ahern had decided to make this statement because of the British engineer's Irish connections.

The statement was issued in response to a request for an interview from the al-Jazeera television station, she said. It had also been reported that al-Jazeera could represent a means of making the Government's views known to those who were holding Mr Bigley, she added.

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There had not been any consultation with the British or American governments on whether to respond to the interview request, the spokeswoman said.

"Because there was an opportunity offered, the Taoiseach was happy to give a statement," she said.

Mr Bigley's family, who had earlier asked the Taoiseach to talk to al-Jazeera welcomed the statement as a potential breakthrough. Last night Mr Bigley's brother, Paul, told The Irish Times he believed the statement could provide the "key" to his brother's release.

"It will be very helpful indeed. The statement is a lifeline as it is arising from a bona fide Government. It's all I wanted."

He said the statement could provide an opening for dialogue with the kidnappers. In his statement, which was carried by international broadcasting stations and wire services, Mr Ahern "stressed that the Irish Government was paying very close attention to the case of Mr Bigley".

"The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, has been briefed in detail on developments in relation to Mr Bigley's case by Foreign Minister Straw, and we are maintaining close contact with the British authorities on an ongoing basis," the statement said.

"In addition the Irish Ambassador in London has at my request, communicated the sympathy and support of the Irish people at this time to the Bigley family, especially in the context of the family's Irish connections," Mr Ahern said.

Mr Bigley (62), who was kidnapped nine days ago, is entitled to an Irish passport because his mother, Lil, was born and grew up in Ticknock, Co Dublin.

In the statement the Taoiseach said that Mr Bigley's family had "summed up the circumstances perfectly in describing Mr Bigley as an ordinary working man".

The Labour Foreign Affairs spokesman, Mr Michael D. Higgins, was interviewed by al-Jazeera on Thursday,

He was quoted on the station's website, aljazeera.net as saying: "We must have dialogue with Iraqi groups, like the Association of Muslim Scholars. We are all interested in a peaceful resolution and putting an end to this illegal war."

Mr Ahern's statement comes as over 50,000 leaflets in Arabic pleading for information on the whereabouts of Mr Bigley were distributed in the Baghdad neighbourhood where he disappeared. They were produced by the British Foreign Office at the request of the Bigley family.

In Mr Bigley's home city of Liverpool, leaders of all faiths, including Muslims, held a candle-lit vigil at Liverpool's Catholic cathedral.

Mr Bigley's 86-year-old mother was released from hospital yesterday after falling ill following a live television appeal.

A team from the Muslim Council of Britain was also preparing to send a delegation to Baghdad to make a last-ditch plea to Islamic militants to spare the life of Mr Bigley.