Gaddafi joins appeal for Bigley's release

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

JANA, the state news agency, said Gaddafi wanted to hear from Bigley’s captors if they had any conditions for his release:

“The brother leader issued an appeal to the kidnappers saying: ’We request the release of this poor Briton since his family had requested our help … and if they have any conditions, convey them to us in any way possible,’” JANA said.

He urged the British government to work with the interim Iraqi government and the United States to heed the kidnappers’ demands to free Iraqi women prisoners.

Britain and the US say only two women are held, both top weapons scientists under Saddam Hussein.

“We repeat the call to those who had kidnapped this Briton to contact us through any party, provided that they don’t contact us through a party whose identity is not known and that it not be accused of terrorism,” Gaddafi said.

In Baghdad today, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the British government is ready to listen Mr Bigley’s kidnappers but will not enter into negotiations with them for his release.

“We cannot enter into negotiations but if hostage takers have a message, we will listen to it carefully,” Mr Straw said, following a meeting with Iraq’s deputy prime minister for national security, Barham Saleh.

Mr Bigley, 62, from Liverpool, was abducted on September 16 along with two Americans from their Baghdad home by the dreaded Tawhid and Jihad group, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The two Americans, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, were decapitated and gruesome videos of their murders have appeared on the internet, along with videotapes of Bigley pleading with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to spare his life.

Mr Straw, who arrived in Baghdad today after talks with Kurdish leaders in the north, said he discussed the Bigley case with Saleh and other Iraqi authorities but refused to give details. More than 140 Iraqis have been abducted in Iraq, among whom at least 26 have been killed.

Mr Bigley’s abduction and his heart-wrenching appeals for Blair to help save his life have drawn attention to the crisis in Iraq at a time when the premier had wanted to focus attention on domestic issues ahead of elections expected next year.

Mr Straw reaffirmed Britain’s determination to defeat terrorism in Iraq so that Iraq can hold national elections in January. He said he was ”impressed and encouraged” by progress in combating the insurgency, despite an upsurge in violence over the past month.

“The fight against terrorism is a fight for all of us,” he said. “That is why it is crucial that the Iraqi people, with our support, are able to defeat this terrorism here in Iraq.”

Despite the disorder, he said there had been good ”technical progress” in preparing for the January elections.

“We were always determined to do everything we could to ensure that the (UN) Security Council’s deadline of January 31 is met and I have been impressed and encouraged by what I have heard today,” he said.

Mr Straw later flew to Saudi Arabia.