Hostage Takers' Demands Rebuffed
Authorities insisted on Thursday that they won't give in to militants' demands to free female Iraqi prisoners despite the plea of a tearful British hostage begging Britain to save his life in a video released by his captors.
In a video made public Wednesday, Kenneth Bigley appealed to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to intervene and meet his kidnappers' demands. "I think this is possibly my last chance," he said. "I don't want to die."
Two Americans kidnapped with Bigley last week have already been beheaded.
Bigley's brother, Paul, accused the United States of wrecking efforts to save his brother's life after U.S. and Iraqi officials quickly quashed a comment by an Iraqi official that one of the female prisoners would be freed by Thursday.
"That was a shadow of light in a big, long, dark, damp, filthy, cold tunnel. Now this has been sabotaged," Paul Bigley told the British Broadcasting Corp. on Thursday.
Bigley's wife and son also pleaded, but the British government said it would not negotiate, reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Petersen.
In other developments:
Violence has intensified in recent weeks — with insurgents setting off near-daily car bombs.
Iraq's Shiite majority is eager to hold elections since they expect to dominate whatever government emerges. U.N. chief Kofi Annan, however, has questioned whether elections can take place if violence does not ease.
Al-Sistani "stresses the necessity of holding elections on time and the necessity of preparing the atmosphere ... under international supervision to be credible and transparent," Hamed al-Khafaf, an aide to the ayatollah, said Thursday in a telephone interview from Beirut.
Allawi told Congress that elections would be held as scheduled and insisted U.S. and Iraqi forces would rein in the insurgency.
"Elections will occur in Iraq on time in January because Iraqis want elections on time," Allawi said. "We could hold elections tomorrow" in 15 of 18 provinces, he said, even though terror operatives hope to disrupt them.
He cautioned, however, that the election may not come off perfectly. But he assured it will be free and fair, "a giant step" in Iraq's political evolution.
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Allawi was sent before Congress to put the "best face" on Bush administration policy.
"The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story," Kerry said.
Indeed, fighting and a rash of kidnappings have shown the vulnerability of the new Iraq. At least 20 people — including three U.S. soldiers — were killed and more than 100 wounded on Wednesday.
The 62-year-old 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, demanding the release of all female prisoners in Iraq.
Two high-profile female security detainees are in custody — Rihab Rashid 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."
A dispute broke out Wednesday when Allawi's Justice Ministry announced that Taha would be freed on bail "Wednesday or Thursday" because she was no longer a threat to national security.
But the U.S. Embassy and Allawi quickly said the women would not be released soon. Allawi underlined that U.S. and Iraqi authorities would not give in to hostage-takers' demands.
"We have not been negotiating and we will not negotiate with terrorists on the release of hostages," Allawi told The Associated Press. "Really, my heart goes out for the victims of terrorism, and their families and we are trying to do our best to ensure the release of them."