British Hostage's Life Tainted by Tragedy

LONDON - Kenneth Bigley, the British hostage beheaded in Iraq, was a widely traveled engineering contractor with a life tainted by tragedy who had hoped to retire within months.

The 62-year-old came from a close-knit family in northwestern England and had planned to join his Thai wife, Sombat, at their newly built home in Bangkok after finishing his contract at an American military base north of Baghdad.

Bigley, whose son from his first marriage died in a traffic accident 18 years ago, also was looking forward to the birth of his first grandchild, expected in February.

A native of Liverpool, Bigley worked abroad for much of his life, spending time in Australia, New Zealand and Spain. He later began a series of contracts throughout the Middle East where, according to his brother Philip, he developed an appreciation of Islamic culture and a deep fondness for the region and its people.

"It is the reason he was prepared to help in Baghdad where many others would be worried for their own safety," Philip Bigley said.

Bigley was abducted Sept. 16 along with two Americans from their home in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighborhood by members of Tawhid and Jihad, Iraq's most feared terrorist group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The group demanded the release of all female prisoners held by the coalition in Iraq.

The two Americans _ Eugene Armstrong, 52, and Jack Hensley, 48 _ were beheaded a few days later.

On Friday, Bigley's brother, Philip, said Kenneth was beheaded by his captors.

A witness who saw a videotape sent to Abu Dhabi TV said on condition of anonymity that it showed six hooded, armed men standing behind the kneeling Bigley, whom the witness recognized from two previous tapes released by the kidnappers in which he pleaded with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save his life by meeting his captors' demands.

Blair expressed his "utter revulsion" for the killers and said such actions "in Iraq or elsewhere should not prevail."

Kenneth Bigley was the second of four sons born to shipyard worker Thomas and his Irish-born wife Elizabeth, now 86 and still living in Liverpool. Kenneth grew up close to the grounds of the city's Everton soccer club and was a huge fan all his life.

After completing his schooling and national service with the Scots Guards, Bigley married his first wife, Margaret, in 1967, and the couple moved to Victoria, Australia, where he worked as an engineer. It was there that they had their first son, Craig _ now 33 and soon to be a father _ before moving to New Zealand.

The Bigleys returned to northern England and bought two supermarkets, but a suspected thief threatened Margaret with a hammer. Shaken by the incident, the family moved south to Somerset and opened a pub.

In 1986, a truck knocked down their 17-year-old son Paul while he was cycling, putting him in a coma from which he never recovered.

In a statement Friday, Bigley's family said: "At least he will now be in the caring hands of his son Paul, who he loved dearly."

Determined to rebuild his life, Kenneth Bigley again left Britain and opened a pub in Spain. He worked there for two years before resuming his engineering career with jobs across the Middle East, including Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

He remained in close contact with his three brothers _ Stan, Philip and Paul _ and made regular trips back to Liverpool to visit his mother and watch Everton games with Craig.

Seven years ago, he married Sombat.

Bigley arrived in Iraq after the war ended and took up a job providing "base camp life support" at the American facility at Taji, near Baghdad. He was employed by Gulf Supplies and Construction Services, a United Arab Emirates-based company he had worked for since 1997.