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Union — and an excessive predilection for welfarism have created a peculiar, and deeply unattractive, psyche among many
Liverpudlians. They see themselves whenever possible as victims, and resent their victim status; yet at the same time they wallow in it. Part of this flawed psychological state is that they cannot accept that they might have made any contribution to their misfortunes, but seek rather to blame someone else for it, thereby deepening their sense of shared tribal grievance against the rest of society. The deaths of more than 50 Liverpool football supporters at Hillsborough in 1989 was undeniably a greater tragedy than the single death, however horrible, of Mr Bigley; but that is no excuse for Liverpool's failure to acknowledge, even to this day, the part played in the disaster by drunken fans at the back of the crowd who mindlessly tried to fight their way into the ground that Saturday afternoon. The police became a convenient scapegoat, and the
230:. Both women participated in Iraq's biological-weapons programme, according to the United Nations weapons inspectorate. News reports had earlier suggested that other Iraqi women were indeed being held in US custody, but it is not known to what extent these reports were out-of-date by the time of Bigley's kidnap. The Iraqi provisional government stated that Taha and Ammash could be released immediately, stressing that this was about to happen anyway, as no charges had been brought against the women.
175:, a Kuwaiti company working on reconstruction projects in Iraq. The men knew their home was being watched and realised they were in great danger when their Iraqi house guard informed them he was leaving due to threats by militias for protecting American and British workers. Bigley and the two Americans decided it was worth the risk and continued to live in the house until their abduction on 16 September.
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361:. According to reporters who watched the film, Bigley was wearing an orange jumpsuit, and read out a statement, before one of the kidnappers stepped forward and cut off his head with a knife. The bloodied head was then placed on top of Bigley's abdomen. News reports published after Bigley's death suggested he had briefly managed to escape from the kidnappers with the help of two
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What he has got to understand is that we were speaking the truth for 23 years and apologies have only started to come today from them because of yesterday. It's too little, too late. It's fine to apologise afterwards. They just don't want their names in any more sleaze. No, his apology doesn't mean a
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Johnson apologised at the time of the article, travelling to
Liverpool to do so, and again following the publication of the report of the Hillsborough Independent Panel in 2012; however, Johnson's apology was rejected by Margaret Aspinall, chairperson of the Hillsborough Families Support Group, whose
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for an editorial published on 16 October 2004 following the death of Bigley in Iraq, in which it was claimed that the response to Bigley's killing was fuelled by the fact he was from
Liverpool, and went on to criticize the "drunken" fans at Hillsborough and called on them to accept responsibility for
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was released on 22 September by Bigley's captors, this time showing Bigley pleading for his life and begging the
British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save him. Clearly exhausted and highly emotional, Bigley spoke directly to Blair: "I need you to help me now, Blair, because you are the only person on
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agents of Syrian and Iraqi origin, who paid two of his captors to help him. The captors attempted to drive Bigley, who was carrying a gun and was disguised, out of town, the reports said, but he was spotted and recaptured at an insurgent checkpoint. The two captors who were said to have helped him
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The extreme reaction to Mr Bigley's murder is fed by the fact that he was a
Liverpudlian. Liverpool is a handsome city with a tribal sense of community. A combination of economic misfortune — its docks were, fundamentally, on the wrong side of England when Britain entered what is now the European
322:, Cuba. In the video, Bigley again begged for his life, saying, "Tony Blair is lying. He doesn't care about me. I'm just one person." On 1 October, another 100,000 leaflets asking for information about Bigley were distributed by the British consulate in Baghdad.
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After
Armstrong and Hensley were killed, the British government and media responded by turning Bigley's fate into Britain's major political issue during this period, leading to subsequent claims that the government had become a hostage to the situation. The
318:, who made public statements. A third video was released on 29 September, showing Bigley chained inside a small chicken-wire cage, wearing an orange boiler suit apparently intended to be reminiscent of those worn by inmates at the US detention facility at
190:, released a video of the three men kneeling in front of a Tawhid and Jihad banner. The kidnappers said they would kill the men within 48 hours if their demands for the release of Iraqi women prisoners held by
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The
British government issued a statement saying it held no Iraqi women prisoners, and that the only two women known to be in US custody were two so-called high-profile Iraqi scientists, British-educated
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personally contacted the Bigley family several times to assure them that everything possible was being done, short of direct negotiation with the kidnappers. It was also reported that a
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Bigley's family, particularly his brother Paul, was successful, with the help of the Irish government, in eliciting support for Bigley's release from
Palestinian leader
291:, asking for information about Bigley's whereabouts, were distributed in al-Mansour, the wealthy district of Baghdad Bigley had been living in. In his home town of
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258:; this meant Bigley himself was also an Irish citizen from birth. It was hoped this status would aid his release, as Ireland did not participate in the
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The kidnappers made a film apparently showing Bigley's murder, and the tape was subsequently posted on
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over the course of three days, Bigley was killed in the same manner two weeks later, despite the attempted intervention of the
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The chicken-wire cage in which Bigley was filmed was found in
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and the indirect intervention of the British government. Videos of the killings were posted on websites and blogs.
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newspaper a whipping-boy for daring, albeit in a tasteless fashion, to hint at the wider causes of the incident.
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were not met. Armstrong was killed on 20 September, when the deadline expired, and Hensley 24 hours later.
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and sent a senior two-man delegation to Iraq on 26 September to negotiate on Bigley's behalf.
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God's earth who can help me." The video was posted on several websites, blogs and shown on
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condemned the kidnapping, saying it was contrary to the teachings of the
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127:(22 April 1942 – 7 October 2004) was a British civil engineer who was
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made two appeals, one on 30 September and a second on 7 October.
147:, on 16 September 2004, along with his colleagues, U.S. citizens
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860:"Spectator apology for 'disproportionate grief' for Mr Bigley"
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has claimed he is "buried in a ditch at the entrance to
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escape were purportedly executed shortly thereafter.
155:. Following the murders of Hensley and Armstrong by
334:on 7 October 2004. His death was first reported on
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254:and was therefore entitled to be a citizen of the
287:On 24 September, 50,000 leaflets prepared by the
772:Ken Bigley's wife mourns the loss of her husband
268:, which was shown on Al Jazeera television. The
186:") Islamic extremist group, led by Jordanian
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803:"Bigley beheaded after MI6 rescue backfired"
662:"Bigley beheaded after MI6 rescue backfired"
338:television the following day. A multi-faith
330:Despite the efforts to save him, Bigley was
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48:Bigley (right) with his wife Sombat in 1998
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676:(subscription required for full article)
27:British civil engineer and murder victim
688:"Man questioned over Ken Bigley murder"
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342:, attended by Tony Blair and his wife
727:Echo, Liverpool (13 September 2012).
618:"British Hostage Is Beheaded in Iraq"
429:son James, 18, died in the disaster:
173:Gulf Supplies and Commercial Services
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382:associated with hostage-holding and
960:Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2004
827:"Ken Bigley's hostage cage 'found'"
505:List of solved missing person cases
749:"Mayor makes Hillsborough apology"
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851:"Bigley body claims investigated"
638:"Bigley body claims investigated"
870:Ken Bigley killed: Your reaction
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686:Henry, Emma (17 January 2007).
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616:Wong, Edward (8 October 2004).
171:The three men were working for
945:British people of the Iraq War
272:spokesman on foreign affairs,
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890:Iraq–United Kingdom relations
595:Harding, Luke (20 May 2004).
413:Hillsborough stadium disaster
920:Missing person cases in Iraq
955:October 2004 events in Iraq
915:Islamism-related beheadings
876:. Thursday 14 October 2004.
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935:War crimes in the Iraq War
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515:Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr.
910:Filmed executions in Iraq
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370:Torture-chamber discovery
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925:Terrorism deaths in Iraq
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670:. London. Archived from
316:Colonel Gaddafi of Libya
198:Negotiations for release
970:Kidnapping in the 2000s
312:King Abdullah of Jordan
234:Second and third videos
228:Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash
210:and the Prime Minister
781:Profile:Kenneth Bigley
568:"Timeline: Ken Bigley"
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348:2003 Istanbul bombings
289:British Foreign Office
815:"The other prisoners"
597:"The other prisoners"
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178:On 18 September, the
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674:on 25 February 2014.
485:Fabrizio Quattrocchi
411:their "role" in the
406:, was criticised by
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950:October 2004 crimes
841:by Peter Beaumont,
832:The Daily Telegraph
791:"Theatre of terror"
500:List of kidnappings
256:Republic of Ireland
216:Special Air Service
137:al-Mansour district
125:Kenneth John Bigley
103:Cause of death
58:Kenneth John Bigley
965:Kidnapping in Iraq
847:, 14 November 2004
839:"The final battle"
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799:, 21 November 2004
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274:Michael D. Higgins
270:Irish Labour Party
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817:by Luke Harding,
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282:Gerry Adams
265:in absentia
113:Nationality
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359:shock site
245:Al Jazeera
224:Rihab Taha
212:Tony Blair
208:Jack Straw
64:1942-04-22
696:. London.
667:The Times
605:. London.
580:9 January
510:Nick Berg
415:in 1989:
336:Abu Dhabi
293:Liverpool
278:Sinn Féin
238:A second
157:beheading
129:kidnapped
72:Liverpool
863:BBC News
854:BBC News
785:BBC News
776:BBC News
754:BBC News
643:BBC News
573:BBC News
439:See also
352:Fallujah
332:beheaded
384:torture
280:leader
167:Capture
141:Baghdad
135:in the
117:British
95:Baghdad
76:England
344:Cherie
314:, and
301:Qur'an
252:Dublin
97:, Iraq
326:Death
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582:2012
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84:Died
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