THREE British men who travelled to Iraq to fight coalition forces have joined the terrorist group holding the Liverpool engineer Ken Bigley, according to a resistance leader with close links to the organisation.

The men were accepted by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most ruthless terrorist chief in Iraq, on the recommendation of “clerics abroad”.

The claim, which followed Tony Blair’s warning last week that Iraq had become the “crucible of global terrorism”, came amid concern among Labour officials that the hostage crisis and the wider conflict could overshadow this week’s party conference.

Paul Bigley, one of the hostage’s brothers, revealed that he was preparing to make a highly critical speech to a fringe meeting at the Brighton conference by video link from his home in Amsterdam. “I’m going to speak the truth. This silly stuff has got to stop in the Middle East,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of unhappy people in the building.”

In an interview published today, Blair says he feels “immensely sorry” for the Bigleys and praises them for being “extraordinarily stoical and dignified throughout.” He calls, however, for unity to “stand firm” against foreign terrorists in Iraq.

Peter Hain, leader of the Commons, was forced to issue a retraction yesterday after saying Iraq and hunting were “just fringe issues as far as conference is concerned”.

The plight of Bigley, 62, who was kidnapped 10 days ago and begged Blair to help free him in a tearful video appeal, has shown the growing power in Iraq of terrorists.

Abu Muawiya, who spent eight months in Zarqawi’s Tawhid wal Jihad (TWJ) group, claimed it had attracted fighters from other Arab nations. “Three Muslim British citizens are among a handful of non-Arab foreigners who have joined Zarqawi in his war against the coalition forces,” he said.

As well as the Britons, a number of Taliban and Chechens were also said to be in the group, which beheaded Bigley’s American companions Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong last week.

A claim attributed to TWJ yesterday saying Bigley had also been executed was dismissed by the Foreign Office because it appeared on a website that was “not credible”.

But the rumour intensified his family’s anguish. “It gave me the shivers,” said Paul Bigley, a 54-year-old businessman. “I’m going through purgatory. I wake up every five minutes in the night.”

He fears the kidnappers may execute his brother during the Labour conference for maximum impact, just as it killed one of the Americans the day President Bush gave a speech to the United Nations.

Bigley’s 86-year-old mother, Lil, was visited at home in Liverpool yesterday by Terry Waite, the former Church of England envoy who was kidnapped in Beirut. “Mum is praying on her hands and knees,” said Paul Bigley.

She was later taken to hospital after collapsing for the second time in three days.

The Muslim Council of Britain, which sent two envoys to Iraq to press for Bigley’s release, said Blair had assured its leaders that incitement to religious hatred would soon be outlawed.

Following warnings of a possible backlash if Bigley is killed, the council published 500,000 copies of a guide telling Muslims of their rights and responsibilities. “Averting a terrorist attack is an Islamic imperative,” it says.

At the British embassy in Baghdad, dozens of calls were taken after 50,000 leaflets were handed out seeking help. The SAS was understood to be on standby. However, a source close to the Iraqi security forces said “very little” could be done. “We don’t have any idea where (Bigley) is or where Zarqawi’s men are hiding.”

Additional reporting: Andrew Porter, Maurice Chittenden, Adam Nathan, Stephen Grey and Nicholas Rufford

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president