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| Bigley killed after 'escape bid' |
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| Date : 09-10-2004 11:32 Source : bbc |
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Iraqi government sources told the BBC's Caroline Hawley that Mr Bigley escaped briefly before being recaptured.
The 62-year-old engineer's family confirmed his death on Friday after the release of a video showing him being beheaded.
A day of mourning has been declared in his home city of Liverpool and two minutes of silence was held at noon.
Mr Bigley is thought to have escaped for around half an hour, with the help of one of his captors, before being recaptured in farmland near the town of Latifiya, south-west of Baghdad, the Reuters news agency said, quoting "insurgent sources".
The area is regarded as lawless and American and Iraqi forces have recently been attempting to regain control.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing Mr Bigley being recaptured. The Foreign Office refused to comment on the claims.
British diplomats in Baghdad are still trying to recover Mr Bigley's body.
The Queen and the prime minister have led tributes to the engineer, while Foreign Secretary Jack Straw visited Mr Bigley's family on Friday.
A mass in his honour was also held at Liverpool's Roman Catholic cathedral last night and books of condolences have been opened there and at the town hall.
Two minutes' silence was observed in Liverpool at noon on Saturday.
Around 200 people attended the event, in the shadow of the town hall, which was followed by the ringing of the municipal bell 62 times - one for each year of Mr Bigley's life.
There will also be a minute's silence before the England v Wales football match at Old Trafford on Saturday.
'Fate sealed'
The Tawhid and Jihad group took Mr Bigley hostage along with two US colleagues in Baghdad on 16 September. It beheaded the Americans the following week.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, insisted his government was working hard to stop the militants.
Mr Bigley's son Craig, mother Lil and brothers Philip, Stan and Paul had campaigned for his release.
His Thai-born wife Sombat, who is with her family in Bangkok, told the Daily Mail: "He was my heart and now they have wrenched him from me. Why did they make him suffer so?"
Philip Bigley said the family had experienced "three long weeks of waiting and three long weeks of agony".
The government had done all it could to secure Mr Bigley's release, he said, but his brother's fate may have been sealed "from day one".
He said the government had exchanged messages with the captors but they refused to abandon their demands.
Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his "utter revulsion" at the killing, while Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi condemned it as a horrible, barbaric act.
Beheading video
A video released by the kidnappers showed six hooded, armed men standing behind Mr Bigley, who was on his knees, according to a witness who watched the video for the Reuters news agency.
One of the six spoke in Arabic for a minute.
He said the group would carry out "the sentence of execution against this hostage" because the British government "did not meet our demand" to release Iraqi women detained by the US-led command in Iraq.
He then took a knife from his belt and cut off Mr Bigley's head as three other militants held him down.
Paul Bigley accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of having "blood on his hands".
He added: "This war is illegal and it must stop. The United Nations declared this war illegal. There are no weapons of mass destruction, which were taken as a foundation for this war."
His brother, Philip, thanked "those who have prayed for Ken and our family, from all religious backgrounds".
'Immeasurable loss'
"He was a truly wonderful father, husband, brother and son. The loss to our family is immeasurable.
"The horror of these final days will haunt us for ever."
Ken Bigley was last seen alive in a video broadcast last week, pleading for Tony Blair to help him.
Tawhid and Jihad is led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
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