A DELEGATION of British Muslims in Baghdad last night appealed for the life of Kenneth Bigley, but immediately ran into controversy by promising his terrorist captor absolution from his sins if he releases the British engineer.

Daud Abdullah and Musharraf Hussain, representatives of the Muslim Council of Britain, met Iraqi leaders and broadcast an emotional and religious appeal to the Tawhid wal Jihad group, led by the Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to release Mr Bigley.

Dr Abdullah, 49, from London, told al-Zarqawi, the mastermind behind scores of suicide car bombings that have killed hundreds of Iraqis as well, as the beheading of several foreign hostages, that he could achieve divine forgiveness if he lets his prisoner live.

“You will not only be rewarded by Allah, but your sins will be covered up and you will be forgiven for all your wrongdoings,” he said during a televised press conference in the heart of the fortified green zone in Baghdad. He also said that it was “unIslamic” to punish a Briton for the “crimes” of his Government.

“Whatever the mistakes, errors, sins or crimes the British Government committed, we do not believe a British national should be held responsible,” he said, adding that Mr Bigley was not a combatant taken on the battlefield but an unarmed civilian snatched from his home.

Dr Hussain admitted that appealing to the human side of as violent a man as al-Zarqawi was “extremely difficult,” but said that he was placing his faith in God. “We have to try, that is the bottom line, really, one has to try and remain hopeful until the end of it. Hearts we believe are in the hands of God,” he said.

Dr Hussain said that he also hoped that anyone who heard the British Muslims’ appeals would come forward with evidence pointing to Mr Bigley’s whereabouts.

The two men, who were rushed to Baghdad last Friday without meeting the Bigley family, said that they had the family’s blessing for the desperate appeal. They said that there was little hope of establishing a direct line of negotiation with the kidnappers themselves, but did not rule out the possibility of paying a ransom if it would save Mr Bigley.

The kidnappers have not asked for money so far, instead demanding the release of women held in coalition jails in Iraq. The coalition has insisted that only two women close to the former regime and allegedly involved in illegal weapons research are being held.

Dr Hussain said that they were willing personally to verify that claim if the American authorities grant them access to the prisons. The delegation has also enlisted the help of Yusuf Islam, formerly the folk singer known as Cat Stevens, to help their mission.

They brought to Iraq a letter from Mr Islam — who was denied entry to the United States last week on security grounds — to release Mr Bigley “in the name of Allah”.

Mr Islam’s letter read: “As a member of the Muslim Council I request you, in the name of Allah, the Rahman (the all merciful), to release British citizen Ken Bigley for the good name of our religion and according to the sayings of Allah in the glorious Koran.”

Despite unsubstantiated claims on the internet that Mr Bigley had been killed, the two delegates said that they were assuming that he was still alive and plan to meet Sunni and Shia Muslim leaders in Baghdad to enlist their support.

Their task is hindered by security concerns in the middle of relentless violence.

The two men are being ferried to meetings outside the relative safety of the American-protected green zone by the British Embassy, wearing bullet-proof jackets and protected by armed British guards.

The mission was also beset by criticism from a fellow Muslim leader at home. The Labour peer Baroness Uddin described their frantic flight to Baghdad as a “futile gesture” and questioned whether they were the right people for the job.

“A lot of people see it as odd sending these individuals for such an important task, particularly sending people who don’t hold any status in either British society or Iraqi society,” she told BBC Radio 4.

“I hope that we have arrived at a juncture in grown-up politics where we do not have to rely on futile gestures like this, or a stunt like this, to demonstrate how seriously the Muslim community abhors the actions of such terrorists and how they are truly British citizens,” she said.

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