Hostage's brother appeals to kidnappers

The brother of a British hostage in Iraq have appealed for his release on pan-Arab satellite television.

Kenneth Bigley and two US colleagues were kidnapped in Baghdad last week by a group linked to al-Qaida. Today is the day that the deadline for sparing their lives expires.

In a videotape on Saturday, the kidnappers, the Tawhid and Jihad group, threatened to behead the three Westerners within two days if the women detained in US-run prisons in Iraq were not released.

Bigley’s younger brother, Philip, used the same Dubai-based satellite channel to broadcast an appeal, which he recorded at a studio in Liverpool.

Philip said his brother loved the Arab world and had worked in Qatar, Oman, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

“He wanted to help the ordinary Iraqi people and is just doing his job,” Philip Bigley said, according to a transcript issued by the British Foreign Office. In today‘s broadcast, Philip’s comments were voiced over in Arabic.

Bigley was kidnapped with Americans Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong. They were employed by Gulf Services Co., a Middle East-based construction firm.