British kidnap victim's mother collapses, Muslim delegation in Iraq

10.00am - By RAYMOND WHITAKER in London and PATRICK COCKBURN in Baghdad


The 86-year-old mother of Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage held by al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Iraq, collapsed yesterday for the second time during her son's 11-day ordeal.

Lil Bigley, who made a televised appeal to the kidnappers last week, was taken to hospital in Liverpool amid uncertainty about the fate of her 62-year-old son.

A posting on an Islamic website yesterday said the group which seized Mr Bigley and two American colleagues from their house in the al-Mansur district of Baghdad on 16 September had killed him, but the Foreign Office said the claim did not appear credible.

The terror group Tawhid and Jihad, led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had threatened to kill Mr Bigley unless Iraqi women were freed from prison.

Last week it posted grisly footage on the internet of the beheading of the two Americans, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley. The British hostage was later shown making an appeal for Tony Blair to intervene to save his life. Britain insists it will not negotiate with terrorists.

Yesterday's claim consisted of a single line on a little-known website which said: "Tawhid and Jihad announces that it has executed the British citizen and gives you the good news of kidnapping seven British soldiers. We will be releasing the tape shortly."

A military spokesman said all British troops in Iraq had been accounted for; hours later no footage had been released.

The hostage crisis dragged on during another violent day in Iraq, with US troops striking what was said to be a meeting-point for fighters loyal to Zarqawi in Fallujah.

A local doctor said at least eight Iraqis were killed and 15 wounded. A US Marine died in a bombing yesterday, bringing to five the number of Marines killed since Friday.

As former Beirut hostage Terry Waite visited the Bigley family, a two-man delegation from Britain's biggest Muslim group has arrived in Iraq on a quest to free Mr Bigley.

After arriving in Baghdad on Saturday, the men admitted they faced a tall order to secure the release of the 62-year-old engineer, but said they had faith something could be done.

"Miracles do happen," Musharraf Hussain, a representative from the Muslim Council of Britain, told reporters in Baghdad.

"We believe in the power of prayer turning people's hearts and we can only have that trust and reliance in our God ... If (the captors) have faith in their hearts and the seeds of true submission to God then there will be some change."

Hussain and fellow delegate Dawud Abdullah arrived on a flight from Kuwait, where they told reporters earlier they believed Bigley was still alive.

Speaking in Kuwait, Abdullah said the delegation hoped to meet religious leaders and scholars, including the leadership of the High Association of Muslim Scholars. In Baghdad, he said he hoped their message would get through to Bigley's captors.

"Whoever is holding Mr Bigley, we are endeavouring to get a message through to those captors," he said.

The Muslim Council of Britain is the country's largest lobby group for Britain's 1.8 million Muslims.

In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair, blamed by many for the hostage crisis because of his decision to go to war in Iraq, praised Bigley's family, who have been holed up in their house in Liverpool waiting for news of his fate.

"I think everyone is amazed at how dignified they have been over the last few days and we will continue to do whatever we can," Blair said as he arrived at the annual conference of his ruling Labour Party in southern England.



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Herald Feature: Iraq