Paul Bigley, the brother of the British hostage being held in Iraq, has accused the British government of inaction and has again called on Tony Blair to intercede to help save Ken Bigley's life.
Speaking by telephone to a fringe meeting at the British Labour Party conference in Brighton, Paul Bigley said that Mr Blair's silence for the last ten days was the kiss of death for his brother.
He asked why Downing Street had not issued a statement to Mr Bigley's kidnappers in the same way that the Taoiseach had done last Friday.
To date, he said the British government has not communicated with Al Jazeera, the Arabic TV channel.
Paul Bigley also revealed that he had received information this evening that his brother is still alive.
UK govt can do little to help hostage: Blair
The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has admitted there is little his government can do to help free Ken Bigley.
Mr Blair was speaking on the first day of his Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton.
The prime minister added that there was no point in raising false hopes because of the nature of the people who were holding Mr Bigley.
Mr Bigley's kidnapping, the threat of death hanging over him and the continuing torment being suffered by his Liverpool-based family, has overshadowed the opening of the conference.
In a video appeal last week, Mr Bigley pleaded with Mr Blair to help save his life.
But today in a BBC television interview, Mr Blair refused to go into details of exactly what the British government was doing, and said there were limits on what the government could do to help.
He insisted the kidnapping was not a reason to pull British troops out of Iraq or advise British contractors to leave the country.
Hostage's mother in hospital
Meanwhile, Mr Bigley's Dublin-born mother remains in hospital in Liverpool after being admitted yesterday afternoon.
Lil Bigley, 86, was previously taken to hospital on Thursday, following a televised appeal to her son's kidnappers in Iraq to release him.
They have threatened to kill the 62-year-old engineer unless the UK and US release all women held in Iraqi jails.
His captors have already killed two American hostages.
Two members of the Muslim Council for Britain arrived in Iraq last night with a plea for mercy for Mr Bigley's release.
