Ken Bigley Makes New Video Appeal

British hostage Ken Bigley today appeared in a new video tape broadcast by al-Jazeera, in which he pleaded with the prime minister, Tony Blair, to meet the demands of his captors to release Iraqi women prisoners.

Mr Bigley said his kidnappers did not want to kill him and accused Mr Blair of ignoring his plight and "lying", the channel said.

The footage showed him sitting behind bars in what appeared to be a cage. He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit and kneeling on the floor. The authenticity of the tape could not be independently verified and the channel said it could not reveal where the footage came from.

The tape was broadcast just hours after Mr Bigley's brother claimed to have received written confirmation that the 62-year-old engineer was alive and could soon follow two Italian aid workers to freedom.

Paul Bigley said the translation of a communique posted on a Arabic website had left him 90% sure that the contents were true, and its "bottom line" was that his brother would be released.

"It is not just a typical communique, it is so intricately put together [...] the contents are a lot of political details, condemning this and condemning that, but the bottom line is that Ken will be spared."

The translation of the communique said the hostage's "liberation [should] be a clear message to the British people and also an appeal for them to realise the incapacity of their government and its crime in not freeing Iraqi prisoners in exchange for the life of their son."

Mr Bigley, who has made a series of outspoken attacks on the prime minister, Tony Blair, over the kidnapping, had earlier described himself as "heartened" by the release of the two Italian aid workers yesterday and "overjoyed for their families".

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, last night returned to an emotional welcome in Rome after the apparent intervention of Iraq's hardline Muslim Clerics Association, but the Italian government is today facing claims it paid a ransom.

Ms Torretta, speaking to reporters outside her family home on the outskirts of Rome, said she had been treated "with great dignity" but had feared she would die during the three week hostage ordeal.

Gustavo Selva, chair of the Italian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said a ransom of $1m (£550,000) was probably paid to release the two aid workers because the "lives of the girls was the most important thing" but officials of Silvio Berlusconi's government have flatly denied the allegations.

Mr Selva said: "In principle, we shouldn't give in to blackmail but this time we had to, although it's a dangerous path to take because, obviously, it could encourage others to take hostages, either for political reasons or for criminal reasons."

Mr Blair this morning said the government was attempting to make contact with the group holding Mr Bigley but it was harder than it had been for the Italian negotiators since his captors - led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - are not thought to be Iraqi.

"The difficulty is that we are trying to make contact with this particular group, because these are outside people, they are not Iraqis [...] they are outside terrorist groups, and we are trying to make contact with them and we are doing everything we possibly can," he told GMTV from the Labour party conference in Brighton.

"As I always say to people, it is probably better if I don't go into details of all that. But our thoughts continue to be with the Bigley family, who have been extraordinary."

Paul Bigley has urged Mr Blair to make a personal plea for his brother's release, saying silence from the prime minister would be "the kiss of death".

The militants claiming responsibility for Mr Bigley's abduction have demanded the release of female Iraqi prisoners at US-controlled prisons - a move US officials have ruled out and the British government has said it has no authority over.

Hopes for the release of two French journalists were today also raised when a negotiator said he had met the pair and received assurances they would be released.

Philippe Brett told al-Arabiya television that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were "in good health, psychologically and morally". French authorities said they had no knowledge any such deal, and that Mr Brett was not part of the official negotiations with the hostage-takers.

The situation elsewhere in Iraq was, however, bleak today as clashes broke out on Haifa Street, Baghdad, when US and Iraqi forces arrested a suspected militant leader, Kadhim al-Dafan, and US jets launched airstrikes on Sadr City.