LONDON, Sept 23 (AFP) - The family of a British engineer held hostage in Iraq begged his captors Thursday to "be merciful" and release him unharmed, as fears over his safety grew.
The brief statement, read out by Kenneth Bigley's son, came hours after video footage of a man presumed to be the 62-year-old captive begging for his life was placed on the Internet.
The hostage's son, Craig Bigley, said the family had "seen and heard Ken's pleas".
"Thank you for letting Ken make his appeal. All of the family are very grateful to you for his message," he said in the family's home town of Liverpool in a statement directed at the Islamic radical group holding Bigley.
"We have heard what you say, and want to continue listening to you. You have proved to the world that you are committed and determined.
"Be merciful as we know you can be. Release Ken back to his wife and family. We ask you as a family to be all merciful."
In a fuzzily-shot video, Bigley pleads with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to release two Iraqi women prisoners, a demand made by his captors, a group loyal to wanted militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
"I need you (Blair) to be compassionate as you always said you were ... I don't want to die," he says, breaking into tears.
Bigley's brothers and son have themselves urged Blair to accede to the hostage-takers' demands, and say they will hold the premier responsible if the engineer is killed, as seems increasingly likely.
Al-Zarqawi's Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) group has already executed two US co-workers taken hostage with Bigley last week from their home in Baghdad, and early Thursday an Islamic website reported that two Italian hostages held for two weeks had been murdered.