International News
British hostage in Iraq pleads for help; concern surfaces about ransom payments BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – A weeping British hostage was shown pleading for help between the bars of a makeshift cage in a video that surfaced Wednesday, a sobering reminder of the grim reality for at least 18 foreign captives still held by Iraqi militants.
British hostage in Iraq pleads for help; concern surfaces about ransom payments
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – A weeping British hostage was shown pleading for help between the bars of a makeshift cage in a video that surfaced Wednesday, a sobering reminder of the grim reality for at least 18 foreign captives still held by Iraqi militants.
There is wide speculation that ransoms were paid for the freedom of a dozen hostages, including two Italian aid workers.
The new footage, first broadcast on the Arab news network Al-Jazeera and then posted on the Internet, showed Kenneth Bigley begging British Prime Minister Tony Blair to meet his captors’ demands.
“Tony Blair, I am begging you for my life,” the 62-year-old Bigley said between sobs. “Have some compassion. Only you can help me now.”
He accused Blair of lying about efforts to secure his release, saying no negotiations were taking place.
“My life is cheap. He doesn’t care about me. I am just one person,” the civil engineer said. “I want to go home. Please, Mr. Blair, don’t leave me here.”
Yemeni judge orders death sentence for two USS Cole defendants, jails four others
SAN’A, Yemen (AP) – A Saudi suspected of being an associate of Osama bin Laden and a Yemeni militant were sentenced to death by firing squad Wednesday for the bombing of the USS Cole four years ago, the first convictions in the al-Qaida terror attack that killed 17 American sailors.
The judge ordered four other Yemenis jailed for five to 10 years.
With army snipers on nearby rooftops and armored vehicles and soldiers surrounding the courthouse, Judge Najib al-Qaderi handed down guilty verdicts in an often-delayed trial that saw the five defendants in Yemen’s custody refuse to enter pleas, claiming U.S. interference in the case.
The judge ordered Jamal al-Badawi, a 35-year-old Yemeni, and Saudi-born Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location, executed for plotting the attack by two suicide bombers who blew up an explosives-laden boat next to the Cole as it refueled in the Yemeni port
