Source: CNN.comFamily: Bigley killed by captors
Friday, October 8, 2004
Bigley was seen behind bars in a video broadcast last week.
(CNN) - The family of Ken Bigley, the British engineer who was taken hostage in Iraq three weeks ago, has confirmed he has been killed. "We can confirm that the family has now received absolute proof that Ken Bigley has been executed," Phil Bigley said in a televised statement Friday.
He added the British government "did all it could to secure the release of Ken." UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the killing of Bigley as "barbaric murder." He said British officials had exchanged messages with Bigley's captors in the last four days but "at no stage did the kidnappers abandon their demands."
Islamic militant group Unification and Jihad claimed to have kidnapped the men. It claims allegiance to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqawi's group had demanded the release of all female Iraqi prisoners. However, the International Committee of the Red Cross has insisted that Britain did not hold any women prisoners in Iraq.Earlier Friday, Reuters news agency reported that it had seen a video showing the beheading of a man, identified as British hostage Ken Bigley.
Bigley, 62, was kidnapped from his Baghdad residence three weeks ago with two American colleagues, Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong. The two Americans were subsequently beheaded and a video released showing the killings. The video aired Friday shows Bigley surrounded by six militants, one of whom is seen decapitating him, Reuters says.
Bigley was seen dressed in an orange jumpsuit, the kind that has been worn by other hostages, as well as inmates of the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The news came in the wake of international efforts by family members, politicians and Muslim leaders to save Bigley's life. Another brother of Bigley, Paul, a resident of Amsterdam, has been at the forefront of efforts by the family to free the hostage.
On Friday, in a statement to anti-Iraq war activists issued after he had heard reports of his brother's death, Bigley said: "Please, please stop the war and prevent other lives being lost. It is illegal, it has to stop. Mr. Blair has blood on his hands." On Wednesday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appealed to the kidnappers to release Bigley, Libya's official JANA news agency said. One day earlier, Gadhafi's son, Saif, said his charity group was hoping to help secure Bigley's release.
Also Tuesday, Ireland issued a passport for Bigley in the hopes it would help secure his freedom. Ireland is a neutral nation and has opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The British government, a strong supporter the war, had said it would listen to the kidnappers holding Bigley. But Straw, the foreign minister, maintained the government was not prepared to negotiate with them or pay them a ransom.
Two weeks ago, Muslim leaders from Britain traveled to Iraq to meet with their counterparts there and attempt to make contact with the kidnappers. Akbar Ali, a Muslim leader in Liverpool who had appealed for the release of Bigley, told the UK's Press Association: "I think I can speak on behalf of all Muslims. We are very sad, we were all hoping he would be reprieved and representations had been made.
"This group are very, very ruthless people without aims or objectives, just trying to show the world how cruel and mindless they can be. They are giving a very, very negative picture of Islam." Last week, an Arabic-language news channel broadcast a video showing Bigley caged behind bars.
Ken Bigley beheaded
- Thread starter Rick van Opbergen
- Start date
This is so tragic, my heart goes out to the family.
However I do find it ironic that the news report says the government did everything it could to get him released, they could have pulled out, but I'm sure Tony would never think of such a thing. I'm sure he thinks of this as an "acceptable loss of life in war".
However I do find it ironic that the news report says the government did everything it could to get him released, they could have pulled out, but I'm sure Tony would never think of such a thing. I'm sure he thinks of this as an "acceptable loss of life in war".
I heard that one of Bigley's brothers said to Blair that he has to stop the Iraq war, as he now has "blood on his hands".
This is beyond comprehension. I don't like seeing or reading these things, soon taking peoples heads off will has common as sex in a phone booth.
Not yet...but I have heard tell of such things, personally I only use a phone booth to make obscene phone calls to fubbleskag 
Yes it is. But he is a rather nasty pirate, that keeps trying to ravish me. He has been doing this for years. 8O :? :roll: :x :twisted:
:idea: I gotta use the phone booth now ricky :wink:
8O :? :roll: :x :twisted: :idea: I gotta use the phone booth now ricky :wink:
Yes I will do just that, I will write it up and send you all the uncensored details in a PM message. How old are you? I might have to censor some of it...like when we are whispering bridge moves to each other...bridge always gets him excited...its about the only thing that does excite him
thats what I say "err bridge"...he will be very nasty to me now, when he read this
mwaaaaahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahah
mwaaaaahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahah
Umm, considering the horror of the event that started this thread, the lighthearted banter might be better suited to another thread? Or maybe I am being silly here, I don't know.
The beheading sickened me as well, I'm sure it did everybody. As for blood on Blair's hands, well, it was there long before this beheading took place. It would be naive to think, though, that anybody would pull troops out of a war to save the life of one man.
What of such demands? Should governments cave to them? Or not?
The beheading sickened me as well, I'm sure it did everybody. As for blood on Blair's hands, well, it was there long before this beheading took place. It would be naive to think, though, that anybody would pull troops out of a war to save the life of one man.
What of such demands? Should governments cave to them? Or not?
We should not cave to terrorists but at least listen to their demands. Women imprisoned in Iraq is against every grain of their honor and society.
Britain did not do anything to release the poor guy. Blair just counted him as another causality of war. And he will do it again even if they had 1000 Britons going to die.
Britain did not do anything to release the poor guy. Blair just counted him as another causality of war. And he will do it again even if they had 1000 Britons going to die.
No you're not silly, you are quite right. This is not the place to joke.Haggis McBagpipe said:
But does that not mean that terrorists will only feel more appealed to the kidnapping of foreigners to achieve their goals? Will it not mean that when you listen to their demands, more and more terrorists will start kidnapping people? And why are these women imprisoned (am I wondering)?moghrabi said:
If we listen, I think less people will be killed. The more stubborn we get, the more people will be executed. Dialogue is the best thing in times like this. We have to understand what these people want and why are they doing what they do. Dialogue is not a sign of weakness but an intelligent way of understanding the enemy.
Yes it is possible to have a dialogue. More than that, we need to acknowledge that they have a point. The two women the Americans are holding are being held because of they were allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction. The American report earlier this week showed that to be untrue, so why are these women being held? They not only didn't commit the crime they are accused of, that crime apparently never happened.
It's too bad that Bigley had to die. He was caught up in something that had little to do with him. Such deaths are going to continue until the US and Britain take a hard look at its their actions and begin to open a dialogue, including the very real possibility that justice be done to US and British leaders.
It's too bad that Bigley had to die. He was caught up in something that had little to do with him. Such deaths are going to continue until the US and Britain take a hard look at its their actions and begin to open a dialogue, including the very real possibility that justice be done to US and British leaders.