Kidnapping and murder of Kenneth Bigley

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Kenneth John Bigley (1942 – October 7, 2004), a 62-year old man from Liverpool in England (he also held Irish citizenship), was kidnapped in Iraq in September 2004, along with Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, both U.S. citizens.

Bigley was first reported by a Reuters journalist to have been killed on October 8 and this was later confirmed to be true by his brother, after proof was provided to his family, including Thai widow Sombat Bigley. Bigley was weeks away from retirement and the birth of his first grandchild.

Kidnapping in Iraq, September 2004

The kidnappers had made demands pertaining to the release of Iraqi women prisoners. The UK government has said that it is not holding any Iraqi women prisoner. US authorities have said that the only women prisoners they held were common crooks, or were militants or were the two scientists Taha and Huda Salih Mehdi Ammash, and that no Iraqi women prisoners were held at the notorious prisons of Abu Ghuraib and Umm Qasr. There were reports suggesting that contrary to these statements there may be several women prisoners in US custody, though it is unclear whether these reports and/or the information they rely on are outdated (the prisoners may already have been released in the meantime). [1] [2] [3] There were statements made by Iraqi government officials that the said female scientists could be released on bail. Following US statements to the contrary, the Iraqi government recanted their earlier statements.

A video was released on September 22 by his captors (led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi) showing Bigley pleading for his life, begging British Prime Minister Tony Blair to help him and release the female detainees held by the coalition. His kidnapping has received international attention and a delegation of British Muslims has travelled to Iraq on his behalf.

A further video was released on September 29 illustrating that Bigley was still alive, but apparently kept chained in a cage wearing an orange boiler suit. In it he pleads for help and states, "Tony Blair is lying. He doesn't care about me. I'm just one person." It has been suggested that the boiler suit, chains and cage are symbolic of those worn by inmates at Guantánamo Bay.

The other two people kidnapped alongside Bigley were gruesomely beheaded within days of their capture, with the videos of their murders posted on the internet.

On September 19, Bigley's brother Paul said he had also received a translated copy of a communiqué released "from the Arab world" which claims his 62-year-old brother would be freed.

A transcript of the message, which is posted on the website AlQalah.com, says the group "frees the prisoner and saves his life and warns all those who collaborate with the aggressor, in whatever form, to leave the country, otherwise they will meet the same fate as his predecessors, that is beheading".

Various individuals and organizations from several countries participated in the effort to save Bigley. The Muslim Council of Britain expressly condemned the kidnappings and identified them as contrary to the teachings of the Qur'an. The council also sent a two-person delegation of Muslims from Bigley's home town of Liverpool to Iraq to seeking to contact local organizations and religious groups who might be able to contact and/or exert influence on Bigley's captors. The delegation returned without success.

Irish politicians and the Irish government intervened on Bigley's behalf while expressly distancing themselves from the UK position and stressing Bigley's Irish roots as well as Irish neutrality and Ireland's non-participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Bigley was granted Irish citizenship on October 2 (in absentia) on grounds that his mother is from Dublin. Irish politician Michael D. Higgins made an appeal on Al Jazeera Television and the Taoiseach too contacted the station. Gerry Adams made similar appeals. The Irish also contacted prominent figures in the Arab world who—it was hoped — might be seen by the kidnappers as being closer to their likely political position. Following these Irish initiatives, both Muammar Gaddafi and Yasser Arafat went public, calling for Bigley to be released.

Execution in October 2004

On October 8, 2004 however, Abu Dhabi Television reported that Bigley had been murdered on October 7. According to BBC News, Abu Dhabi TV had been tipped off from "informed sources", and later the murder was confirmed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

A Reuters journalist who claimed to see the video in Baghdad said that the insurgents killed Ken Bigley because U.S. forces were closing in on them and they had run out of time. He also said the video showed Bigley reading a statement in an orange jumpsuit similar to those worn by U.S. detainees in Guantánamo Bay before one of the men stepped forward and cut off Bigley's head with a knife. A British official confirmed that the video shows the murder of Ken Bigley.

Apparently Ken Bigley had escaped from his captors briefly equipped with a gun but had been recaptured in a field shortly before being murdered. The London based Sunday Times newspaper reported that Bigley fled with the help of two of his captors who had been bribed by British intelligence services.

On October 10, a videotape of the execution of Kenneth Bigley was posted on an Islamist web site, apparently confirming earlier details reported in the press. However, like the Nick Berg video, it has continuity jumps that are open to interpretation. After the victim, presumably Bigley, is pushed to the floor, the presumed cutting is almost entirely hidden by the perpetrators' legs; then the scene jumps to an object being held up, with no view of the floor; then a final scene shows Bigley's head and body on the floor.

See also

External links

WARNING: The video depicts extremely graphic footage of a presumed actual murder.

  • http://www.hostinganime.com/iraqnews3 First Website Showing Execution
  • http://www.beheadingvideos.co.za The partial video of the Bigley beheading
  • http://www.ogrish.com/movies/ogrish-dot-com-kenneth-bigley-beheading-video-full.wmv Video of Bigley beheading
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