Hostage family's leaflet appeal

Thousands of leaflets carrying a personal appeal for help from the family of British hostage Ken Bigley have been distributed in Baghdad.

The Foreign Office said today that the British Embassy in the Iraqi capital had sent out 50,000 of the heartfelt written pleas from the 62-year-old's family.

They were distributed last night in the west of Baghdad where he was living when he was snatched along with two colleagues by kidnappers last Thursday.

Since then, Americans Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley have been beheaded in grisly executions and the footage released on the internet.

Personal television appeals for help and mercy from the Bigley family have been broadcast worldwide, and the leaflets reinforce their plea for information on his whereabouts, saying: "This is a personal appeal from a family whose son is missing. A family man called Ken Bigley is being held somewhere in your community.

"We are Ken's family. Ken's mother, brothers, wife and child love him dearly. We are appealing for your help.

"We are waiting for him to come home. We appeal to those who have taken him to please return him safely to us."