2 October 2004

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch secret service AIVD has refused to comment on claims its agents raided the Amsterdam home of Briton Paul Bigley, whose brother Ken is being held hostage in Iraq.

Paul Bigley is said to be furious that the Dutch authorities have treated him like a criminal simply because he was working to free his brother who is under threat of death.

He told Sky News that AIVD officers — accompanied by British officials — carried out the raid on Thursday. Earlier the UK's Daily Telegraph reported that Paul Bigley's computer was searched and material downloaded from the hard disk was sent to London for "analysis".

Paul Bigley says he was interrogated about his alleged contacts with terror group Tawhid and Jihad, led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which is holding his brother. The latest video from the group shows Ken Bigley chained in a cage.

Two Americans taken with Bigley have been beheaded. The captors say they will also kill Bigley unless two women, linked to Saddam Hussein's regime, are released by the authorities in Iraq.

Paul Bigley has been severely critical of the British government's handling of the kidnap crisis and he has been working to establish his own contacts in the Middle East.

He has denied he has made contact with Tawhid and Jihad, but says he has had indirect contacts via the Arab news broadcaster al-Jazeera. He claims the "nonsense" raid by the AIVD had set his campaign to free his brother back by 48 hours.

British Labour Party MP Alan Simpson also said he was "furious" about the way the Dutch and British authorities had treated Paul Bigley by raiding his home in Amsterdam.

The AIVD has refused to comment.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news, Iraq hostage, Ken Bigley