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Rebels threaten to kill Briton (and 2 Americans)
The fate of a British hostage kidnapped in Baghdad is looking increasingly perilous after his captors threatened to kill him if their demands are not met. The militants said on Saturday that they will execute Kenneth Bigley and the two Americans snatched with him in 48 hours if the US does not release Iraqi women prisoners in the Abu Ghraib and Umm Qasr jails. Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged that everything possible is being done to secure Mr Bigley's release after the civil engineer was shown blindfolded and with his hands apparently bound on Arab TV station Al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera named the extremists as suspected al Qaida supporter Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's organisation, the Tawhid and Jihad Group.Mr Blair said: "We are monitoring the situation very closely, we are doing everything we can." He added he did not want to say anymore, for the sake of the hostage. The chilling video footage showed Mr Bigley, Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong seated on the floor, blindfolded with scraps of white cloth while a masked man held a rifle behind them. The hostages took turns to speak to the camera. "My name is Kenneth John Bigley, Ken," 62-year-old Mr Bigley said. Posted by: .com 2004-09-19 |
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