'We dumped Bigley's body four days ago'

The body of British kidnap victim Ken Bigley has been lying undiscovered outside Baghdad for four days, it was claimed today.

The 62-year-old was beheaded on Thursday after three weeks in captivity and a video of the killing put on the internet at the weekend.

Today his killers, of the Tawhid and Jihad group, claimed they had abandoned his body just south of Baghdad on Friday. However, officials at the British Embassy in Baghdad said they were still looking for Mr Bigley's remains.

A spokesman at the Foreign Office added: "At the moment we haven't got or found the body. We are making efforts to find it."

The bodies of two American engineers seized with Mr Bigley were found dumped on the street within hours of their murders.

A source close to the kidnappers under Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi today told Reuters that Mr Bigley's body had been abandoned four days ago.

It comes after it emerged thieves have stolen a book of condolence from from Birmingham Central Mosque, while another picture was turned upside down.