An Iraqi insurgent group said today in an internet posting that it killed a kidnapped US security consultant. The claim’s authenticity could not be immediately verified.

PAUL Bigley, whose brother was horrifically beheaded a year ago after being seized by Iraqi radicals last night pledged “whatever help I can possibly give” to hostage Rory Carroll and his family in Ireland.

Iraq has asked the UN Security Council to condemn the recent spate of bombings and attacks.

THE brother of Kenneth Bigley, the hostage who was beheaded in Iraq, said yesterday the family saw the successful bid for an Irish passport as an angle to secure the release of the engineer.

Liverpool and Millwall have both been charged by the Football Association over the crowd trouble which broke out during the Carling Cup match on October 26, with the London club also charged over alleged racist abuse by fans.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has welcomed the release of three United Nations hostages being held in Afghanistan.

US troops sweeping through Fallujah found what appeared to be a command centre used by followers of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as a general declared the battle for the city had “broken the back of the insurgency”.

Video purportedly showing a suicide attack on three British troops outside Baghdad was posted on an Islamic website today.

Militant group al-Qaida in Iraq have called for the release of the kidnapped Irish-born executive of the Care charity, Margaret Hassan – and promised to free her if she fell into their hands.

Insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq today called for the release of the kidnapped Irish executive of the CARE charity, Margaret Hassan – and promised to free her if she fell into their hands.

Kidnappers of aid worker Margaret Hassan tonight threatened to turn her over to militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi unless Britain pulls its troops out of Iraq within 48 hours.

WE can only hope that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s latest mercy plea for Irish-born kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan is more successful, and brings more influence to bear, than was regrettably the case with his intercession for former hostage Kenneth Bigley.

Masked militants today threatened to behead a Japanese hostage within 48 hours unless Japan pulls its troops out of Iraq.

IRAQI insurgents yesterday denied involvement in the kidnapping of Margaret Hassan, the Dublin-born charity worker seized six days ago.

Care International suspended operations in Iraq today after gunmen seized the Irish-born woman who ran the humanitarian organisation’s work in the country.

A director of an international charity in Iraq was kidnapped as she was being driven to work in Baghdad today.

British Chancellor Gordon Brown today ordered financial institutions to freeze any funds held on behalf of the terror group which kidnapped and murdered Ken Bigley in Iraq.

Crack US troops made two failed attempts to rescue hostage Kenneth Bigley and the two Americans he was held captive with, it emerged today.

A book of condolence for the British hostage beheaded by Islamic militants in Iraq last week is due open at the Mansion House in Dublin today.

A book of condolence is to be opened in Dublin in honour of the British hostage Kenneth Bigley who was killed in Iraq.

Car bombers have struck twice in rapid succession in Baghdad, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier, as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that violence may increase before the January election.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is isn’t the only world leader facing doubts about his handling of the war on terrorism – people in Australia and Italy also harbour reservations about how well their nation’s leaders are holding terrorists at bay.

A VIDEOTAPE of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley appeared yesterday on an Islamist website, showing the civil engineer pleading that he wanted “to live a simple life” moments before he was decapitated.

Car bombers struck twice in rapid succession in the Iraqi capital today, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier and wounding at least 16.

A videotape of the beheading of British hostage Kenneth Bigley appeared today on an Islamist website, showing the civil engineer pleading that he wanted “to live a simple life” moments before he was decapitated.

Shiite militiamen loyal to radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have agreed to begin handing in weapons.

The Thai widow of British engineer Kenneth Bigley who was beheaded by his kidnappers in Iraq is too devastated to comment publicly on his death, her sister said today.

Australia’s foreign minister took time during federal elections today to condemn the execution in Iraq of British hostage Kenneth Bigley.

AL-QAIDA-linked militants in Iraq beheaded hostage Kenneth Bigley despite last-ditch secret appeals from the British government.

THE wife of hostage Kenneth Bigley has endured days of torment waiting for news of her husband.

COMEDIAN Billy Connolly yesterday said he was “desperately sad” at reports of the death of Kenneth Bigley - days after being criticised for making jokes about his plight.

AFTER a career spent working across the globe and a life punctuated with heartache, Kenneth Bigley hoped Iraq would be his last posting before he settled into happy retirement at a new home in Bangkok.

BRITISH hostage Kenneth Bigley, who pleaded tearfully last month for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet his kidnappers’ demands, was beheaded by his captors, his brother said yesterday.

THE suffering of Kenneth Bigley’s Dublin-born mother was described last night by his cousin.

President Jacques Chirac said today that the French share the “emotion and pain” of Britons over the execution of Kenneth Bigley.

Speaking this evening from the Asia / Europe Summit in Vietnam the Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern expressed his shock and outrage at the murder of Kenneth Bigley.

Ken Bigley’s execution has triggered a wave of revulsion.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appealed today to kidnappers in Iraq to free hostage Kenneth Bigley.

The Government has issued an Irish passport to Kenneth Bigley, the Liverpulian who is being held hostage in Iraq.

The European Union was today urged to suspend preferential trade with Israel in a bid to stop more bloodshed in the Middle East.

Comic Billy Connolly’s decision to joke about the plight of Kenneth Bigley during a stand-up routine prompted a curt response from the British hostage’s brother today.

Four civilians were killed and 12 injured in a series of overnight strikes in the rebel-held Iraqi city of Fallujah, hospital staff said today.

It was business as usual in the Dáil today as the new cabinet solemnly took their seats on the front bench.

The hopes of the family of British hostage Kenneth Bigley have been raised by the new video shown shackled and behind bars in which he claimed his captors do not want to kill him.