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British hostage in Iraq renews plea for life
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-30 07:56
A weeping British hostage was shown pleading for help between the bars of a
makeshift cage in a video that surfaced Wednesday, a sobering reminder of the
grim reality for at least 18 foreign captives still held by Iraqi militants.
A grab taken from a
video tape broadcast by Al-Jazeera television September 29, 2004, shows
British hostage Kenneth Bigley inside a metal cage at an unknown location.
Bigley appeared in a video tape aired on Wednesday, squatting in a metal
cage, chained and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, pleading with Prime
Minister Tony Blair to meet the demands of his captors in Iraq to release
Iraqi women prisoners. Bigley said his captors, a group led by al Qaeda
ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, did not want to kill him and accused Blair of
ignoring his plight and "lying", the channel said.
[Reuters] | There is wide speculation that ransoms
were paid for the freedom of a dozen hostages, including two Italian aid
workers.
The new footage, first broadcast on the Arab news network Al-Jazeera and then
posted on the Internet, showed Kenneth Bigley begging British Prime Minister
Tony Blair to meet his captors' demands.
"Tony Blair, I am begging you for my life," the 62-year-old Bigley said
between sobs. "Have some compassion. Only you can help me now."
He accused Blair of lying about efforts to secure his release, saying no
negotiations were taking place.
"My life is cheap. He doesn't care about me. I am just one person," the civil
engineer said. "I want to go home. Please, Mr. Blair, don't leave me here."
It was the second tape in a week to surface showing Bigley appealing for
help. Iraq's most feared terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, beheaded two American
hostages seized with Bigley and warned he will be the next to die unless Iraqi
women prisoners are freed.
Britain's Prime
Minister Tony Blair looks down as he attends a Muslim Council of Britain
meeting on the fringes of his Labour Party's annual conference in
Brighton, September 29, 2004. Blair said on Wednesday Britain would
respond to the captors of Kenneth Bigley being held in Iraq if they made
contact with his government. Bigley, made an impassioned plea to Blair to
help free him in a videotape aired on Wednesday that left relatives
relieved to see him alive but appalled at his caged conditions.
[Reuters] | Gruesome videotapes of the killings
were posted on the Internet, and the men's decapitated bodies were found in
Baghdad — not far from the upscale neighborhood where they were seized from
their house Sept. 16.
In the latest tape, Bigley sat hunched on the floor of a cage, his hands and
legs in chains. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit, similar to those worn by
Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley when they were slain. The leader of
Tawhid and Jihad, Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, personally
beheaded Armstrong.
Asked to respond to Bigley's plea, Blair said Wednesday evening, "I feel
absolutely sick about what has happened and I feel desperately sorry not just
for Ken Bigley, obviously, but for the whole of his family."
He said the government was doing everything it could to help Bigley and would
respond if his captors initiated contact, but had no way to reach them.
Bigley's brother, Paul, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the images
of his brother chained and caged were "absolutely appalling, there's no other
word for it, heart wrenching." But he said he was pleased to see his brother
alive.
"That's the good news I see through the smoke," he said. "This is a last
ditch attempt, something has to be done and something has to be done very
quickly."
More than 140 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq and at least 26 have
been killed. Some, like Bigley, were seized by insurgents as leverage in their
campaign against the United States and its allies. But others were taken by
criminals seeking ransom.
"This kind of thing creates a broader contagion for people suffering for
other reasons under the occupation," said Jonathan Stevenson, senior fellow for
counterterrorism with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in
Washington. "They get the idea that they can earn some extra cash by kidnapping
people."
Stevenson said al-Zarqawi and his followers probably realize they can't drive
the United States and Britain out of Iraq. But militants hope that by taking
hostages, they can force the release of a few Iraqi prisoners or the pullout of
some troops — the Philippines withdrew its 51 soldiers to free a captive —
allowing them to declare victory.
The back-to-back releases this week of the two Italian aid workers and four
Egyptian communications engineers raised questions about whether ransoms were
paid to win their freedom.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi brushed off the questions, telling La
Stampa newspaper: "About this business, we won't say anything. Even more, we
won't talk about it any more."
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told state-run radio Wednesday that
"no ransom at all" was paid.
But an Italian lawmaker said he believed the Italian government paid $1
million for the women's release Tuesday, as reported by a Kuwaiti newspaper.
"The government has denied it, but that's an official denial that comes in
the context of the obligations of a government in order not to give the
impression that it gave in to the ransom," Gustavo Selva, head of the Foreign
Affairs committee, told French radio station RTL.
Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, both 29, work for the aid group "Un Ponte
per..." (A Bridge to ...), which carries out water projects and helps Iraqi
children. They were kidnapped Sept. 7 from their Baghdad office.
Orascom, parent company of the four Egyptians abducted last week, refused to
say whether a ransom was paid for their release Monday and Tuesday. Two other
Egyptian engineers are still held.
The releases raised hopes among some for the fate of other hostages,
including two French journalists captured with their Syrian driver Aug. 20. But
analysts cautioned that with so many groups involved in the kidnappings, it was
too soon for optimism.
The beheadings of the Americans prompted a surge of condemnation in the
Middle East, and that may have had an effect on al-Zarqawi and other militants,
said Dia'a Rashwan, a Cairo-based expert on Islamic militants. But he said
"kidnapping will go on. It has proven to be an efficient weapon."
French lawmaker Didier Julia said Wednesday that a man believed to be an
unofficial French negotiator, Philippe Brett, had met with the journalists and
secured a promise for their release. Julia said the United States had secured a
corridor that allowed the release of the Italians, and that the same would have
to be done for the French men.
In Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said he did not know if the United
States had assisted with a corridor. The U.S. Embassy declined comment.
Despite persistent violence, the United States and Iraqi forces say they are
inflicting a heavy toll on insurgents blamed for a spate of kidnappings,
bombings and other attacks this month.
Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops arrested a suspected terrorist on
Haifa Street in Baghdad, cornering the panicked man in a closet as he tried to
conceal his face with his wife's underwear, an Iraqi National Guard commander
said.
Kadhim al-Dafan is believed responsible for car bombs and other attacks in
the area, said Col. Mohammed Abdullah. Five other suspected insurgents were also
taken into custody as U.S. and Iraqi forces clashed with rebels on the street.
Also Wednesday, four U.S. soldiers were wounded when a homemade bomb went off
near Riyadh, northwest of the capital, the U.S. command said. The four were
reported in stable condition.
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