Bigley book of condolence to open in Dublin 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.

Sixty-two-year-old Kenneth Bigley was brutally executed last Thursday, three weeks after being kidnapped in Baghdad along with two American colleagues.

The Americans were beheaded shortly after their capture.

All three men had been working as civil engineers at a US military base near Baghdad.

Mr Bigley's mother is a native of Dublin and Irish politicians had made several appeals to his captors to spare his life.