Hostage may have been 'sold'

2004-09-25 13:14

London - A senior Anglican clergyman with many years' experience in Iraq believes British hostage Kenneth Bigley was "sold" by the men who seized him to the hardline Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) organisation, The Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

In an interview, Canon Andrew White - who was involved in the rescue of four Western hostages in Iraq last June - suggested that Bigley's chances were bleak, nine days after he was snatched along with two US colleagues who have since been executed.

His best hope for freedom, said White, would be a direct appeal from a senior Sunni Muslim cleric who enjoys respect in the Sunni Triangle, where it is believed he is being held.

White told The Times that Bigley was probably sold by the men who snatched him to Tawhid wal Jihad - led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has suspected links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network - for $250 000.

The Times did not explain how White - director of the Iraqi Centre for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace, and a former peace envoy for the former archbishop of Canterbury George Carey - arrived at that figure.

"The reality is that once these people (hostages) are with the al-Qaeda groups, it is too late," White was quoted as saying upon his return on Friday from Washington where he briefed US officials on Iraq's unrelenting hostage-takings.

"Nobody knows where Zarqawi is. Those who are closest to him will not reveal anything. In the hostage-taking process, you have to move really quickly. The first 48 hours are crucial."

'Attempt to destabilise Iraq's restoration'

While an appeal from a senior Sunni Muslim cleric would help, White said many such figures - including a handful thought to be capable of reaching Zarqawi - have fled Iraq for nearby states such as Jordan and Syria.

If Bigley is still alive, White said, he has likely become a pawn in an ordeal that could drag on for weeks before he is set free.

"The method would be to get the local religious leaders to talk to him (Zarqawi)," he said.

"They would have to say to Zarqawi, 'You need to help us. What you are doing weakens the broader Sunni cause, but you are in a position to empower us'," he said.

"We need to find exactly the right Sunni leader, but even then we are not dealing with rationality. It's a case of stroking the kidnappers' ego."

He said British diplomats working for Bigley's release were "the best I have encountered," and that Prime Minister Tony Blair's policy of refusing concessions was correct.

But he warned that Tawhid wal Jihad was probably holding out for more than the release of female prisoners from US-run prisons in Iraq, of which US officials say there are only two, both weapons scientists.

Its real aim, White told The Times, is to cause "total and utter havoc".

"This is a real attempt to destabilise the restoration of Iraq, to remove the American presence, to try to restore Islamic rule," he said.

- AFP