Manipulation a powerful weapon for hostage-takers

By RAJ PERSAUD

Terrorism, atrocities, hostage-taking. None of it makes much sense unless you take into account the element of psychological manipulation, which is often played out more covertly than most realise.

If you want to understand what is actually going on in the volatile situation in Iraq, you have to read between the lines in the emotionally charged messages being sent by Ken Bigley and his desperate family.

Bigley's original statement, a personal and emotional appeal to British Prime Minister Tony Blair - clearly orchestrated and cleverly directed by the hostage-takers - was designed to ensnare Blair.

In his heartfelt appeal, Bigley emphasises his ordinariness and unimportance in the larger scheme of international politics.

He is just a regular citizen - raising the empathy of the British population with his plight. The inescapable conclusion at levels perhaps below conscious awareness is that if Blair does nothing it is because he is too aloof. The statement is all the more psychologically powerful because it appears to be a direct response to Bigley's family's initial comments, displaying anger that Blair was ignoring them.

For a remarkable moment it appeared that Iraqi insurgents - and some ordinary people in Britain - were in a kind of rare dialogue with each other, mediated through press releases and videos sent through the international media.

But then it seems the Home Office or some other Government agency "goes" to the Bigley family, because their second appeal appears remarkably changed in tone and psychology. Bigley's fate is now firmly in the hands of the hostage-takers.

Rather than remonstrating with Blair, there is an appeal for mercy and an incredible attempt to almost praise the hostage-takers for their resolve. "You have proved to the world that you are committed and determined."

An enormous amount of what is known about the psychology of hostage negotiation has been used in the design of this message, probably by Home Office experts. The attempt to acknowledge that something has already been achieved is an exhortation to the gunmen that they don't need to go further and actually harm their victim - they have already achieved a lot.

The endeavour to pass a message to Bigley through the hostage-takers - "They wish you to say to Ken that they love him dearly and are waiting for him to come home" - is a direct effort to promote interaction between the victim and the gunmen.

The more interaction there is between victim and gunmen, the more a relationship of some kind is going to develop and the less likely those who have to do the killing will find themselves able to execute the final act.

However, the other absolute law of hostage negotiation is you never rule out the demands. Play for time and keep saying you are trying your best to give them what they want. The longer the time there is contact between victim and hostage-taker, the more a relationship of some kind is going to develop and the less likely they are to be killed.

In their own chaotic way the Iraqi authorities seemed to be going down that route by not ruling out the possibility of liberation for the two women whose release was demanded by Bigley's captors. But then the Americans stepped in and ruled it out. This cack-handed approach may have sealed Bigley's fate.

Whether it has or not, the true target of this latest devastating weapon in the Iraq conflict will have been realised: to make the authorities appear bumbling, not in control, and therefore vulnerable. The Bigley tragedy has illuminated to the world that it is indeed the Americans who are calling the shots in Iraq. The terrorists have sent their message out to the world.

- Independent

* Raj Persaud is a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, London