LONDON, Sept 22 (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw conceded Wednesday there was little hope of obtaining the release of a British hostage held in Iraq whose two US colleagues were executed this week but said London would stand firm on its refusal to negotiate with "terrorists".
"We continue to do everything we can to secure Kenneth Bigley's safe release, but it would be idle to pretend that there's a great deal of hope," Straw told BBC radio, speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"We cannot get into a situation, and I believe the family understands this, where we start bargaining with terrorists and kidnappers," he said, echoing similar comments earlier Wednesday by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Bigley, 62, from Liverpool, northwest England, was abducted last Thursday by militants loyal to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is the most wanted man in Iraq and is suspected of having ties with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
In London, the Foreign Office office also reaffirmed Britain's stance after a video posted on an Islamist website Wednesday and allegedly recorded by Zarqawi's group showed what it said was Bigley pleading to Prime Minister Tony Blair to save his life.
"We are aware of the report. We are urgently looking into it. We are in touch with the family," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
But she quickly added: "Our position is well known: we don't negotiate with terrorists".
The man in the video broke down as he said it was "possibly my last chance to speak to you."
He was speaking in front of a flag bearing the name of Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War), the group that has already executed two of Bigley's co-workers, Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley, who were abducted with him from their home in Baghdad last week.
Powell, also speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, flatly ruled out any policy change despite the beheadings of the two US nationals.
Voicing deep regret over the loss of life, the US official said "one thing we've learned over time is that you can't negotiate with these kinds of terrorists," adding: "Our policy will remain unchanged".
Tawhid wal Jihad is demanding the release of female Iraqi prisoners in US military custody.
Straw said Britain had not been involved in discussions about the release of two Iraqi scientists, Huda Saleh Mehdi Amache and Rihab Taha.
Nicknamed Dr. Anthrax and Dr. Germ, the two women have been linked to biological weapons development under the former regime of Saddam Hussein.
"Discussions have been going on, not with us, let me make that clear, and there has been no contact with the kidnappers," Straw said.