Ten
years ago on this date, 7 October 2004, Kenneth Bigley, a British Civil
Engineer, was abducted and illegally executed by terrorists in Iraq. There is
some justice served after one of the alleged leaders of the terrorists, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a
targeted killing by the US Air Force.
We offer our condolences to the
families of Bigley, and we will remember him every year on this date. We will
post information about him from Wikipedia.
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Kenneth Bigley (1942–2004) on his wedding day
with his wife, Sombat, in 1998
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Kenneth John "Ken" Bigley (22 April 1942 – 7 October
2004) was a British civil engineer who was kidnapped in the al-Mansour district
of Baghdad, Iraq, on 16 September 2004, along with his colleagues Jack Hensley
and Eugene Armstrong, both United States citizens. The three men were working
for Gulf Supplies and Commercial Services, a Kuwaiti company working on
reconstruction projects in Iraq. The men knew their home was being watched and
realised they were in grave danger when their Iraqi house guard informed them
he was quitting due to being threatened by militias for protecting American and
British workers. Bigley and the two Americans decided it was worth the risk and
continued to live in the house. All were subsequently decapitated.
On 18 September, the Tawhid and Jihad
("Oneness of God and Jihad") Islamic extremist group, led by
Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, released a video of the three men kneeling in
front of a Tawhid and Jihad banner. The kidnappers said they would kill the men
within 48 hours if their demands for the release of Iraqi women prisoners held
by coalition forces were not met. Armstrong was killed on 20 September when the
deadline expired, Hensley 24 hours later, and Bigley over two weeks later,
despite the attempted intervention of the Muslim Council of Britain and the
indirect intervention of the British government. Videos of the killings were
posted on websites and blogs.
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