Sadly but predictably, the video of Kens murder has now been circulated World-wide on
the internet. Readers of the website and trusted sources have viewed the video, I have also done
so myself. Given that this article describes in depth the content of this video, readers should
be cautioned that the content of this article will be disturbing to some. I apologise in advance
if the commentary seems 'cold', but having reported on Kens Capture since day one, it is
perhaps my duty to report the final moments. Sad as it may be, Kens death is just another
death in the thousands of deaths which have occurred in the hell 'we' have created in Iraq.
I for one will never forget him and for a while we felt the connection here in Liverpool,
that community spirit which has seen us through so much heartache, loss and betrayal.
Having followed the daily news reports regarding Ken over these 3 weeks, I felt my duty
as a fellow Scouser was to not let the men of Evil cloud my mind with hatred. For some
reason, the first reaction I have had when viewing the videos was to pray for the
victims. As I pressed the 'play' button on the computer video software, I also prayed
I was doing the right thing. Millions of us have taken this choice to view these
horrific videos; some for good reasons others for lesser reasons. For me, just
another Scouser, someone who is no-one to Blair, I felt 'close' to Ken, I felt
that his pain was something we were bound to share. His pain is over now, keep
that in your mind, his suffering and anguish is over and no matter were he
is, whether it be oblivion, or in the company of his son Paul, his suffering
has passed. Our pain is still raw, so those who are perhaps sensitive in
nature should leave this article now.
Reports of Brief escape
By now people will have read and heard of the reports that Ken escaped his captors
before he was killed. Reports of one of the members of the captors helping Ken have been
circulated, locals in the area allegedly sighted Ken being recaptured. If this is so,
and one of the group did help Ken, and now lies dead for this, we should honour him.
We will hopefully be able to establish the validity of these claims as they will be
important to Kens family in time and to us all. Given the British Govt claim to
have been
'in contact' with Kens captives, we'll need to look at the facts at
some point in a public inquiry.
The video is similar to the two previous releases in as much as the video has opening
titles and credits plus the Tawhid and Jihad logo of the World with a Koran, a gun
and a pointing hand. The intro ends with Ken kneeling before his captors dressed in
that pitiful orange suit.
Ken makes his final statement, he knows he is going to be killed but tries to plead
to us or to Blair (a curse be upon him). These are Kens last words to us. I have carefully
listened to this statement and being a Scouser can easily understand word for word what
he says. His last words were said with a calm dignity, a courage that few could summon in the face of impending death. There was no hint of fear, no waver in his voice as he spoke these last words.
Ken Bigleys last words to Tony Blair, the British government and the British people
"Here I am again Mr Blair and your Government, very, very close to the end of my life.
You don't appear to have done anything at all to help me.
I'm not a difficult person. I am a simple man who just wants to live a simple life with his
family. These people, their patience is wearing very, very thin and they're very serious people.
Please, please give them what they require, the freedom of the women from Abu Ghraib prison.
I beg you if you do this the problem is solved."
The British people more than ever I need your help, more than ever I need your voices, to
go out in the street and to demand a better life for the females and the woman who are
in prison in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
I can't say a great deal more to you, I've said so many things to you, I've said so many
things to you at different times. All I can tell you now is that I have a very short time
left."
The End. |
In the video, six masked men stand in front of a brick wall which has the
Tawhid and Jihad banner hanging on it. They are not dressed in their traditional
black 'execution clothing', but appear to be in street clothing, it seems likely that
that this was a hastily held execution, the killers in the Eugene Thompson and Jack
Hensley videos are all theatrically dressed in black and the events were not hurried.
This appears to be a mob of younger 'up and comings' and not the same group which
killed Eugene and Jack. After Kens final words, one of the hooded men makes a short speech.
This speech comes immediately after Kens final words, and is the
shortest 'pre-murder' speech so far seen by Tawhid and Jihad. It took 1 minute and
28 seconds. The man who eventually wields the knife reads this short speech out and then we see the ugly ending.
The video, thankfully, is not as brutal as the murder of Eugene or Jack, his
two workmates. The quality of the video itself is blurry and 'pixelated', this means
it's a poor quality copy and, to be blunt, not as bloody as other recorded deaths.
Kens actual death is not recorded in any definite detail.
Many seem to believe Ken was dead when he was beheaded; the video itself is not a continuous
one and is spliced (cut) at several points using computer software. The editing may have
been done to hide the fact Ken was dead as the killers cut off his head. Some witnesses
report what may seem to be a bullet-wound, this may be reported so I mention it although
could not say with any certainty if these claims are correct. The consensus of many
people, so far, seems to be that the Ken was perhaps killed beforehand. This may be
the case, but obviously forensic reports would determine this or if Ken was perhaps
drugged as is tradition in Saudi with public beheadings. Either way, it is unusual
for the actual death itself not to subject to a close up, the killers usually
positioning themselves to allow the camera to picture this act. If he was shot
it would be a small mercy.
This video shows the killers crowding around Ken as the killing proceeds.
They push him over, then a 2 or 3 second segment is shown with the knifeman hacking
away, though not in close up. The video jumps then to another 2 second segment of
the knifeman hacking away, then it cuts to a 2 second segment of the knifeman holding
up Kens head. In each clip, throughout the beheading segments, we hear the mob screaming
the customary Islamic 'battle'-cry
'Allah Akbar' (God is Great). Another 4
second or so, the spliced clip shows Kens head already placed on his body, the
camera zooms in then back out. A final 2 second clip shows the Tawhid and Jihad
banner on the brick wall. The video then ends.
As the killers saw away at Kens head, there are no screams heard from him unlike the
other gruesome videos. Chillingly the killers seem to make sure they record the gruesome
sounds made as a person is trying to breathe or scream through a sliced throat. This
chilling audio is not present on the video of Ken Bigleys apparent murder. Each
individual in the 6 man mob itself screams out 'Allah Akbar', not in unison, and
several of the voices themselves seem young, they seem like teenagers almost. By
contrast the killings of Eugene and Jack seemed more 'controlled', no 'disorderly conduct'
with the mob itself keeping quiet, each man seeming to know his role, with all participants
aware that the camera and microphone are needed to capture the details of this act.
Whether they are Iraqi accents in the video is beyond me, but millions of Iraqis
will know.
Who Killed Ken Bigley?
The reports that this murder was committed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi need addressing
immediately. Given that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is said to be the person who has already
videoed his pre execution speech on a supposed number of occasions, it is easy to compare
the voices and compare body size and mass etc. The masked man reading the speech, who is
the same man who wields the knife in the Ken Bigley murder video, is not (in my opinion)
the man who killed Nick Berg (RIP), or the man who killed Eugene Thompson (RIP). The
killers of Euegene and Ken were two different persons. The Nicholas Berg murder video
was actually titled "Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi slaughters an American infidel with
his own hands". It's possible the killer of Jack Hensley (RIP) was the same person
who read the speech and used the knife in the Ken Bigley video. I have not the
resources and time to make any forensic audio comparisons, nor can I claim to be
able to profess any thing more than a laymans skill at identifying people
through body size and other indicators on often low to medium quality
videos. Merseyside police might. Amateur investigators will also be
able to get to grips with these tasks.
Who now will investigate this murder? Iraq has no police force that can tackle this,
we can't send Liverpool officers over there, but one of our own has been murdered
and we need to find the individuals involved and jail them for life if the British
standard of civilised Justice was applied. Launching bomb attacks on Iraqis for the
deeds of a Jordanian psychopath and his band of physiologically deranged and foolish
followers, would not be in our interests and would somehow sully the name of Ken
Bigley and what he stood for in his last days. Bombing the Iraqis will lead to more
young men emerging from the rubble intent on killing us.
As stated at the start of this article, Kens suffering is over. He'd spent
62 years on this Earth, more than the poor kids UK bombs have murdered. He had his
pain on this World, losing his dear son at a young age, but he had a loving family
and travelled amongst the good and decent people of the Middle East. The happiness
in his life far outweighed the last 22 days of his life. The pain he felt at the
end was mercifully quick. I feel that a small part of Ken felt the depth of feeling
which existed for him. Even surrounded by men whose minds were perhaps psychologically
deranged, his last words were not words of hate.
I think our local politicians let Ken down. They could have booked the big
venues and called out to the City. They are our leaders, but they don't care. They
could have put up posters and called for marches, but seem to fear the people lest
we turn on them. To the Unions who backed the Iraq war at the new labour conference,
to the so called socialists who raised crowds of thousands for there own wage demands
and the MP's who were the cheerleaders of this illegal war. Shame on you all.
To those who stood in our hour of need, you know who you are.
To Kens killers and those who would support them, you ought to remember that
Europe (of which we are part of) has seen millions of our people slaughtered.
We sacrificed millions at a time to fight fascism, and though England itself
has known peace for the best of 2 generations, most of us will recall two
words which in themselves became a solemn promise to many working class
who survived the carnage of World War Two. Those words were 'Never Again'.
My message to Kens killers and his supporters would simply be those two words.
Never again.
