A videotape posted on the Internet today showed British hostage Kenneth Bigley making a last appeal to Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet the demands of the militants holding him in Iraq.
"Here I am again, Mr Blair and your government, very, very close to the end of my life. You don't appear to have done anything to help me. I'm not a difficult person. I am a simple man who just wants to live a simple life with his family," the 62-year-old engineer said.
"These people, their patience is wearing very, very thin and they are very serious people. Please, please give them what they require, the freedom of the women in Abu Ghraib prison. If you do this the problem is solved," said Bigley, who was sitting on the floor with militants standing behind him.
Insurgent sources in Iraq had said the Briton escaped briefly from his captors shortly before they killed him in a town southwest of Baghdad on Thursday.
