| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Rebels threaten to kill Briton (and 2 Americans) |
| 2004-09-19 |
| 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 |
| #4 Like your reassuring tone ZF, but I think these lads have been nabbed by Zarqawi's mob whose thirst for blood seemingly outweighs political savvy. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-19 12:21:53 PM |
| #3 I think the guerrillas are getting desperate. In Chechnya, kidnapping sprees coincided with money problems. Another problem the guerrillas have is inflation. They are now having to ask for serious sums of money just to cover expenses. Kidnapping alone doesn't do the trick - it's something that has to be done over and over again to generate income. And once an area has encountered an instance of kidnapping, everyone is much more alert, and bodyguards are hired. Despite all the press attention to these events, only about a hundred kidnappings, at most, have actually occurred. And many of these are actually instances of convoys being intercepted rather than people being snatched from their homes. Instead of killing the people in the convoys, they are keeping them alive as counters in their continuing battles against the coalition. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-09-19 10:56:46 AM |
| #2 Murderous, camel-jockey, raghead bastards threaten to kill Briton? |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-09-19 9:24:51 AM |
| #1 "Rebels threaten to kill Briton" We're talking about murder. Murderers threaten to kill Briton or Rebels threaten to murder Briton would be accurate headers. I know what the hostages would call it. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-09-19 8:15:00 AM |