October 10, 2004
DESERT TWO:
Bigley beheaded ‘after MI6 rescue backfired' (Hala Jaber, Baghdad and Ali Rifat, Latifiya, October 10, 2004, Times of London)
DISGUISED in an Arab robe and headdress, the British hostage Ken Bigley escaped from his captors in Iraq by car the day before they beheaded him, it was claimed last night.A Saudi described as a spokesman for the group that kidnapped Bigley said two of his captors had accepted a large sum of money to help him flee after three weeks of captivity. The money was provided by a Syrian and an Iraqi who had penetrated the group on behalf of British intelligence, the spokesman claimed.
Bigley was bundled into the car last Wednesday and driven towards the safety of an area under the control of American forces near Latifiya, southwest of Baghdad, he said.
But after only five minutes the vehicle was halted by other members of the Tawhid and Jihad terrorist group.
The terrorists, who were patrolling the road in two separate cars, were from a different cell but recognised Bigley's face and detained him, along with his companions.
They took the 62-year-old Liverpool engineer back to the house where he had been held, and he was beheaded on Thursday. His two helpers were also executed, the spokesman said.
At least get the guy a gun. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 10, 2004 8:37 PM
Did they refund the money?
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at October 10, 2004 8:48 PMThey don't even arm their cops.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 10, 2004 10:14 PMAt least Bigley died in an affirmative way, knowing that someone was looking out for him.
That he didn't make it is just the breaks.
This story definitely makes me feel better about yesterday's "Nail the bastards" post. (Which I note is now halfway down the page - Holy Cow, you've been busy).
As for giving Bigley a gun...
No professional would have given him one, either.
The last thing you want is for the rescuee to panic and start shooting up the joint, and in any case, even police officers and military members aren't, on average, good shots with handguns, especially under pressure. The only time the rescuee might get a weapon is if it's well known that s/he's an expert, or if things go really badly, and everyone's holed up and taking fire.
Given the degree to which British 'intelligence' was infiltrated by the KGB during the Cold War and the primary means by which it was done, my expectation is this escapade came undone because some of the Old Etonians at the Home Office had boyfriends who were associated with the terrorists.
Posted by: Bart at October 11, 2004 10:19 AM