BRITAIN: The family of a British man being held under threat of death in Iraq yesterday begged Prime Minister Tony Blair to bow to the kidnappers' demands to secure his release as his captors claimed they had killed another of his colleagues - and threatened that the Briton was next, writes Lynne O'Donnell in London
Mr Ken Bigley (62), was taken from his home in Baghdad on Thursday along with two American co-workers.
His captors, who call themselves the Tawhid and Jihad group, were claiming on a website last night that they had killed his US colleague, Mr Jack Hensley (48). On Monday they broadcast on the internet a film showing the beheading of a man believed to be his other co-worker, Mr Eugene Armstrong.
Last night's internet statement gave no further details of the claimed killing of Mr Hensley, which was also reported by Arabic television station Al Jazeera. Earlier, Mr Hensley's wife, Patty, had made an impassioned plea for her husband's freedom.
Photographs of Briton Mr Bigley have appeared in British newspapers showing him blindfolded and wearing an orange jumpsuit, the trademark of a gang of kidnappers linked to al-Qaeda.
The BBC reported that Mr Blair spoke to several members of Mr Bigley's family, telling them that no one could understand the agony they were experiencing, but that there were "limitations" to what help the government could offer.
Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said that while British officials in Baghdad were working feverishly to secure Mr Bigley's freedom, Britain could not give in to the demands of terrorists.
His words, echoing an earlier vow by Mr Blair that Britain would "stand firm" in the face of terrorist threats, came after a nine-minute video was broadcast on the internet showing the beheading of a man believed to be Mr Armstrong, whose body has been found by American operatives. The three men, engineers for a contracting firm, Gulf Supplies and Commercial Services, were taken from the garden of the house they shared in suburban Baghdad as they were turning on a generator after a blackout.
The kidnappers are led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden who carries out the beheadings. They had threatened to kill Mr Bigley and Mr Hensley unless Iraqi women prisoners were released from American-controlled military prisons.
But the demand appears disingenuous as the US administration says no women are held at the institutions named, and only two women, both of whom were officials of Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons programme, are held at all.
On the video, the murderer throws Mr Armstrong's head on his lifeless body and declares that another hostage will be beheaded in 24 hours unless demands are met.
Mr Bigley's brother, Philip, and son, Craig (33), appeared on morning television programmes in a desperate appeal for government help.
"We feel absolutely helpless," Mr Philip Bigley said. "We do not have the power to save Ken's life. The death of the American hostage has proved to us that if nothing is done then the two remaining captives will die by the most horrific means.
"The only person we can now beg to help us is the Prime Minister.
"We have seen the Prime Minister spending time on trains that can help a commuter save 14 minutes on a journey to London when he should be devoting his time to saving the life of my brother.
"We are not politicians. He is the political head of our country. It is the Prime Minister who has the power to save Ken's life. Prime Minister, we as a family are begging you, please help us."
Mr Craig Bigley added to the plea, calling on Mr Blair "to consider the amount of bloodshed already suffered. Please meet the demands and release my father - two women for two men. Only you can save him now. You have children and you will understand how I feel at this time."
Mr Bigley's mother, Lil (86), was described as "distressed and confused" about her son's fate.
Meanwhile, Iraqi militants have released a Turkish truck driver they had been holding hostage since August 6th, Turkish media reported yesterday. Mr Tahsin Top has reportedly been handed over to the Turkish embassy in Baghdad.
His employers, Atahan transport company, announced shortly after his capture it was halting all work in Iraq to secure his release. State television TRT said the body of a second Turkish truck driver had been found yesterday near Mosul.