Kenneth Bigley Executed

[Chev]

Britain mourns killing of hostage in Iraq

October 9, 2004 - 9:38AM

 

Britain went into mourning today for its first hostage killed in Iraq after the family of Kenneth Bigley confirmed that he had been executed after 22 days in the captivity of a ruthless extremist gang.

 

Bigley's brother Philip Bigley confirmed his murder after Abu Dhabi television in the Gulf said it had received, but would not broadcast, a gruesome video of his death.

 

"I feel utter revulsion at the people that did this, not just at the barbaric nature of the killing but the way, frankly, they have played with the situation over the last few weeks," said Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 

"And I feel a strong sense, as I hope others do, that the actions of these people, whether in Iraq or elsewhere, should not prevail over people like Kenneth Bigley, who after all, only wanted to make Iraq and the world a better place," he added.

 

Bigley's hometown of Liverpool was to hold a day of mourning tomorrow, as his family converged on his 86-year-old mother's humble terrace house in the northern English port city.

 

His young Thai wife Sombat was thought to be with her own family near Bangkok, where Bigley, an engineer with many years' experience in the Arab world, planned to retire after his stint in Iraq with a US military contractor.

 

Unclear was how Bigley's death would impact on Blair politically, after the Prime Minister flatly refused to apologise last week for taking Britain into the Iraq war alongside US President George Bush.

 

It was also unknown how his death might have been the consequence of unrelenting air strikes on the insurgent-held city of Fallujah.

 

Grim faced and drawn, Philip Bigley announced the tragic news of his brother's fate in a statement carried live on British television, without specifying the details of how he died.

 

"We can confirm that the family now has received absolute proof that Ken Bigley was executed by his captors," he said.

 

"In this impossible situation, it could be that the fate of Ken [and two fellow hostages] was sealed from day one," he added. "We will never know."

 

Bigley was snatched from his Baghdad home on September 16 along with two US colleagues, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Henley, by the Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War).

 

The hardline group whose leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is reputed to have links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation. He is the prime target of the US assault on Fallujah.

Armstrong and Henley were both beheaded on camera within days, with horrific videos of their deaths posted on the Internet.

 

But hopes that Bigley would be freed alive were sustained by passionate appeals from his entire family, and from a two-man delegation from the Muslim Council of Britain that travelled to Baghdad to try to intervene.

 

Ireland weighed in by granting Bigley, whose mother is Irish by birth, a passport, while Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi issued his own appeal for his release.

 

Blair opted to keep a low profile, to the frustration of Bigley's other brother in the Netherlands, the outspoken Paul Bigley, as the British Government insisted it would not deal with terrorists.

 

However, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw revealed today that contact had been made this week, unsuccessfully, through an intermediary who had presented himself at the British embassy in Baghdad.

 

"It was clearly in Mr Bigley's interests that we should do all we could to make contact," Straw explained to reporters.

 

"Messages were exchanged with the hostage-takers in an attempt to dissuade them from carrying out their threat to kill Mr Bigley," he said.

 

"But at no stage did they abandon their demands relating to the release of women prisoners, even though they were fully aware there are no women prisoners in our [british] custody in Iraq."

 

Tawhid wal Jihad initially demanded the release of all women held in US-run prisons. It emerged there were only two - both scientists involved in Saddam Hussein's weapons programs - and that Washington would not let them go.

 

The Muslim Council of Britain, concerned of a potential backlash against British Muslims, denounced Bigley's killing in the strongest terms.

 

Its general secretary Iqbal Sacranie said: "There is absolutely no justification for the killing of this defenceless individual. This is a deed which is deeply repugnant and utterly reprehensible."

Not MJ related, but this is something that's been pissing me off :angry:

Where's the fucking loyalty? What's wrong with this picture?? Other countries are even willing to help, but yours does fuck all? Even though you're about to endure a horrible, barbaric death i.e you're about to have your friggin head chopped off with an XL machete.

That poor guy cried, begged and pleaded for Tony Blair to help him, and the guy did nothing.

How the hell do these people sleep at night?

[poohart]

I agree with you mate it makes me ashamed to have come from a country that doesn't give a fuck about a situation like this.

 

Why didn't Blair get involved? Because he's a spineless bastard who's too far up Bush's arse to know what to do!

 

I'd like the Ken's family to pay him a visit.

 

As for the Irish, good on them at least they tried to help. And Gaddafi, even a hated man can show feeling. That say's it all about the situation in Iraq.

 

I just feel sorry for the family having to watch that video to confirm the death, I saw the last one and i will never forget that scene.

 

Please don't post the link on here whoever did it last time.

[Chev]

I won't, it was me man. And yep, it was the freakiest thing I've seen in a long time. I don't think I'll forget it either

[sLiM sHiFty]

Im not one to take sides ... but its tactical warfare guys !!!

 

Lets reverse situations aye ??

 

Okay ... if america was iraq and iraq militants raided your country what would u do ??

 

All the iraq soilders want is americans and their allied countrys out of their country ... i would want the same if i was a terrorist.

 

Remember that all the iraq militants want is for all american troops to pull out of iraq ... then they will stop the kidnappings etc ... dont you guys remember them saying this in all the live broadcastings they produced ??

 

I gotta agree that BLAIRE is one cowardly motha fuka and i bet he kisses bushes ass for all that oil ... damn, how much has old prices raised since this war began ?

[Chev]

Look, there just aint no excuse for this kind of sick shit towards other humans. And so, what happens when you give the bastards what they want? They then take more and more hostages....... Blair should've done something, yes, but you can't let terrorism dictate really.

If I was America and got invaded, I wouldn't start choppin off the heads of innocent people.

[OpticalRush]

my opinion is

 

America kill plenty of iraqi's every day, but when one or two westerners get killed, everyone freaks out. do we as a society belive western peoples lives are more valuable then others?? this is war, war means death on both sides, the problem isnt death , the war itself is the problem, their cant be one without the other. that just my opinion!!

 

-peace!!!-

[Pickle]

War has rules, our side are not allowed to kill civilians.

 

This kind of terrorist behaviour has been going on for years, in case anyone missed it middle east nations have hated the west for as long as i can remember.

[OpticalRush]

i believe their hatred is justified. america think they can bomb/takeover/rule anyone they want. would YOU like america if they decided to destroy your capitals cites etc. what if they decided to declare war on aus, i think your opinion would be very different.

 

i have an iranian and an iraqi friend at tafe and they are traditional relgios middle eastern people, and they are two of the nicest people i have ever met, and they dont hate the west, either do their famalies back in thier home country.

 

-peace-

Edited October 9, 2004 by OpticalRush

[Pickle]

Who said i like america?

 

Let me ask you this: How would you like someone to saw your head off as you plead for your life? Because that is what it comes down to. If you went to america and you weren't in the military and someone decided to cut off your head for political gain would that be acceptable behaviour for the americans? Because even though they havn't done this i am sure they are physically, if not moraly, capable. So why is it OK for the iraqi's?

 

You want to tell me about the nice people you have met, ask yourself if there could possibly be a nice american or if Kenneth Bigley was nice. This isn't about a few nice people, it's about unacceptable behaviour. These nice people you speak of, do they cut off peoples heads? No? Then they have no bearing on this discussion.

 

Iraq is full of oil and they have billionaires leaching off the popualtion and natural resources and they blame america for the fact their population is poor? Their polititians are the same as ours.

 

As i said, although i didn't make my point very clear, the people of the middle eastern nations have hated the west for as long as i can remember, and that is longer than just the last ten years. Pick a war, the people of the middle east hated the west before it. This 'terrorism thing' didn't just pop up in the last ten years because of the iraq wars.

[Chev]

That sort of hatred has always been around, the Middle East has a vastly different culture to the west, so it's more acceptable to them than it is to us.

And if you believe that kind of hate is justified: Jack Hensley beheading EXTREMELEY DISTURBING, don't click on it if you're unsure, it made me feel sick a long time after I watched it

I had to post this, because it ain't like picking up a gun and shooting someone man. This shit is horrific, in the extreme. And apparently Kenneth Bigley's death was much worse than this poor bastards was

I know what America has done is wrong, but I mean, Ken Bigley wasn't even a yank!