Wife prayed for safe return

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

Sombat Bigley would talk to the engineer almost every day as he worked in dangerous post-war Iraq when he called to reassure her he was okay.

Three weeks ago there was no phone call and Sombat heard nothing until an embassy official confirmed he was in the hands of kidnappers, local newspapers said.

Thai-born Sombat, who is Mr Bigley’s second wife, met the 62-year-old eight years ago when he was holidaying in her native country. They have been married for seven years and were just weeks away from being reunited as Mr Bigley prepared to finish his work in Iraq and begin his retirement at their newly-built home in Thailand.

Sombat, who in some reports was said to be as young as 35, previously begged the brutal militants for mercy in an emotional appeal.

In a moving statement, she described her love for the “ordinary hardworking family man”, saying: “I desperately want to be reunited with my husband.”

Sombat has been staying with her sister near Bangkok and attending a Buddhist temple to pray for her husband’s return.

She had previously spoken of how Mr Bigley had “transformed my struggling and lonely life into one of happiness”.