Militant group may ask for Ransom for Bigley

The brother of British hostage Ken Bigley said today he was looking into reports that a new Iraqi militant group had intervened to help negotiate the engineer’s release.

Mr Bigley, who has been in captivity for 17 days, is being held by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his Tawhid and Jihad group, who have already beheaded his two American co-workers.

According to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam, the same jihad group who got involved in the plight of the two female Italian hostages released earlier this week has now turned its attentio to Mr Bigley.

According to the newspaper, the new group has got involved to try and secure the 62-year-old’s release which could include the possibility of a ransom.

His brother Paul said he had heard the reports and was checking their authenticity with his business contacts in the Middle East.

Speaking to PA News, he said: “If this is the case we will have to buy him back, it is as simple as that.”

But he said it was far too early to know whether the option to buy his brother’s life was a possibility.

Tonight, a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We cannot corroborate that story, we just want Ken Bigley to be released.”

A translation of the Kuwaiti newspaper read: "There's near certain information that points to the entry of an Iraqi militant group into negotiations and mediation with the Tawhid and Jihad Group for the release of the British hostage.''

The article is said to be based on Islamist sources in Iraq.

Paul Bigley said he had heard the reports which suggested “a different gang will want to sell him back to us”.

He said that the family were bearing up under the strain but that their 86-year-old mother Lil was still in hospital, in a stable condition.

Yesterday, more than 100,000 leaflets – each containing a personal appeal direct to Mr Bigley’s abductors – were spread around Baghdad in another desperate bid to save him.

They read: “We are Ken Bigley’s family – his mother, brothers, wife and son. We appeal to Ken’s captors to hear the plea of their Muslim brothers.

“We appeal. We love him and we need him.”

The leaflets were distributed in the streets around 28 mosques in Baghdad yesterday morning.

Reflecting on the impact they may have had, Paul said: “They won’t do any harm, people do read these things so it is a good thing.”

Earlier today there was confusion after Paul claimed intelligence officers had raided his home in Amsterdam and downloaded e-mails from his computer.

He told BBC News 24 that his own personal campaign to free his brother had been hampered for two days by the raid.

Asked who his email contacts were, he said: “The contacts I’ve had in the middle east are personal friends, business friends, bona fide personal friends.

“But my most important contact was Al Jazeera television network.”

But the Foreign Office insisted there was no raid and that police family liaison officers had entered the premises with Paul’s permission.

It is understood they may have looked at emails Paul said he had received from around the world to see if there was anything that could help in the ongoing efforts to secure his brother’s release.

The group holding Mr Bigley have demanded the release of all female Iraqi prisoners but the International Committee of the Red Cross has insisted that Britain did not hold any women prisoners in Iraq.

It is now more than two weeks since Mr Bigley, from Liverpool, was taken hostage.

Known as a keen Everton fan, supporters at the club’s home ground Goodison Park were asked to think of Mr Bigley before today’s game against Tottenham.

They were asked to voice their support for the hostage and responded with deafening cheers and applause.