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U.K. hostage pleads for his life after Iraqi militants behead two Americans

BAGHDAD (AP) - A British hostage appeared on a video posted on an Islamic Web site Sept. 22 weeping and pleading for his life as Iraqi and U.S. officials denied that a high-profile female Iraqi weapons scientist, Rihab Rashid Taha, would be released from jail soon - as demanded by the kidnappers.

The captive, Kenneth Bigley, was being held by a militant group led by Jordanian-born terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The group has already beheaded Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, whom it abducted along with Bigley.

On Sept. 22, the militant group posted a video of Hensley's killing on the Internet, as it had two days earlier of Armstrong's beheading.

The kidnappers have demanded that female detainees be released immediately.

The U.S. military says it has two Iraqi women in custody, both high-profile security detainees - Taha, a scientist who became known as "Dr. Germ" for helping Iraq make weapons out of anthrax, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, a biotech researcher known as "Mrs. Anthrax."

Confusion over Taha's fate began when an Iraqi Justice Ministry official announced that "Iraqi authorities have agreed ... to conditionally release Rihab Rashid Taha on bail," because she was no longer a threat to national security.

But a U.S. Embassy spokesman ruled out any immediate release. The two scientists from Saddam Hussein's regime "are in our legal and physical custody," he said.

The conflicting U.S. and Iraqi statements raise questions over who has authority in the country, even after the U.S. handover of sovereignty to Iraq's interim government in June.

Shukan ST: Oct. 1, 2004

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National News U.K. hostage pleads for his life after Iraqi militants behead two Americans BAGHDAD (AP) - A British hostage appeared on a video posted on an Islamic Web site Sept. 22 weeping and pleading for his life as Iraqi and U.S. officials denied that a high-profile female Iraqi weapons scientist, Rihab Rashid Taha, would be released from jail soon - as demanded by the kidnappers. The captive, Kenneth Bigley, was being held by a militant group led by Jordanian-born terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The group has already beheaded Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, whom it abducted along with Bigley. On Sept. 22, the militant group posted a video of Hensley's killing on the Internet, as it had two days earlier of Armstrong's beheading. The kidnappers have demanded that female detainees be released immediately. The U.S. military says it has two Iraqi women in custody, both high-profile security detainees - Taha, a scientist who became known as "Dr. Germ" for helping Iraq make weapons out of anthrax, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, a biotech researcher known as "Mrs. Anthrax." Confusion over Taha's fate began when an Iraqi Justice Ministry official announced that "Iraqi authorities have agreed ... to conditionally release Rihab Rashid Taha on bail," because she was no longer a threat to national security. But a U.S. Embassy spokesman ruled out any immediate release. The two scientists from Saddam Hussein's regime "are in our legal and physical custody," he said. The conflicting U.S. and Iraqi statements raise questions over who has authority in the country, even after the U.S. handover of sovereignty to Iraq's interim government in June. Shukan ST: Oct. 1, 2004 (C) All rights reserved