Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has intervened on behalf of Ken Bigley, the British engineer being held hostage in Iraq.
According to Palestine's envoy to Ireland, Mr Arafat has written to a Palestinian minister who lived in Iraq for some years, urging him to 'do everything possible' to save Mr Bigley.
Tonight Ken Bigley's brother Paul described the gesture as 'fantastic news'.
Earlier, Paul Bigley accused the British government of inaction and again called on the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to intercede.
He said Mr Blair's silence for the last ten days was the 'kiss of death' for his brother. He also revealed that he had received information that his brother Kenneth was still alive.
Meanwhile, the leader of an Islamic group said to have good intelligence from Iraq has said Mr Bigley is still alive.
Yasser Al Sirri from the Islamic Observation Centre said he was trying to secure the release of Mr Bigley in Iraq.
Al Jazeera has meanwhile reported that an Egyptian and two Iraqi hostages who had been kidnapped in Iraq earlier this week have been freed.
The TV station said Alaa Maqaar and two Iraqi engineers had been released but it gave no further details.
Separately, delegates attending the Labour Party conference in Brighton are to vote on setting a date for the removal of British troops from Iraq.
The motion, which comes before the conference on Thursday, is one of five topical issues to be debated this week.
Mr Blair said pulling troops out of Iraq now would be surrendering to terrorists.
Elsewhere, a car bomb has killed three Iraqi National Guards and wounded five others in the northern city of Mosul.
The attack comes as the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, warned that Iraq's insurgency was worsening.
