Blair talks to hostage's family

2004-09-23 20:13

London - Prime Minister Tony Blair talked again on Thursday with the family of Kenneth Bigley, a British engineer held hostage in Iraq by a radical Islamic group, his office said.

"I can confirm that the prime minister has spoken to the Bigley family again. The content of the conversation is private," a Downing Street spokesperson told AFP.

Blair previously talked with relatives of the 62-year-old, whose faces the very real possibility of being executed by his captors, on Tuesday afternoon.

The Bigley family have repeatedly begged Blair to agree to the captors' demands that two female Iraqi prisoners held by US forces be released.

However the government has stood firm on its refusal to negotiate with what it calls "terrorists".

Meanwhile, Bigley's 86-year-old mother has made a tearful plea for the captors to set her son free.

"He is only a working man who wants to support his family. Please show mercy to Ken and send him home to me," Elizabeth Bigley said in a televised address, flanked by her other sons and struggling to maintain her composure.

- AFP