03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

LONDON, Oct 2: Armed intelligence officers raided the Amsterdam home of Paul Bigley, the brother of British hostage Ken Bigley, in the hunt for the leader of the Arab group believed to be holding him, a newspaper said on Saturday.

An intelligence officer from the Foreign Office is alleged to have accompanied the Dutch intelligence officers during Friday's raid, the Independent newspaper reported.

The officers seized Bigley's computer and interrogated him about his alleged contacts with Tawhid and Jihad group, which is led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which has claimed responsibility for the car bombings that claimed the lives of at least 35 children, the daily said.

Material from Bigley's computer hard-disk was downloaded and sent back for analysis in Britain and he was also forced to make a five-page statement, the daily said.

Paul Bigley angrily denied he had any direct contacts with the group, it added.

In a videotape broadcast on the satellite news channel AlJazeera on Wednesday, Kenneth Bigley appeared shackled in a cage imploring British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save his life.

Dressed in orange overalls, an exhausted-looking and unshaven Bigley was heard accusing Blair of "lying" about negotiations for his release, and insisting his kidnappers did not want to kill him.

Bigley was seized on September 16 from his Baghdad home, along with two US colleagues who were beheaded by their captors last week.

He accused London of refusing to negotiate to save his life and pleaded directly to Blair to work for the release of Iraqi women prisoners, a key condition set for his release.

Blair responded to the video by saying London was doing everything possible to secure Bigley's release, but insisted that the kidnappers had not made contact with the British authorities.

Bigley's son Craig read a statement from the family thanking the captors for allowing them to see his father alive, and renewed their plea for his release.

Meanwhile, Bigley's younger brother Paul said he was now "100-percent" certain that a message posted Tuesday on the Internet announcing his brother's imminent release was authentic.-AFP