Iraqi insurgents claim US hostage has been executed

THE fate of the British hostage Norman Kember hung in the balance last night, after insurgents in Iraq claimed to have killed an American security consultant who was snatched earlier this week.

The kidnappers holding Mr Kember have set a deadline of tomorrow for the release of all prisoners held by coalition and Iraqi forces, threatening to kill him and three other hostages if their demands are not met.

Some hopes were raised when the kidnappers put back the deadline - which was due to expire yesterday - by two days, although the same tactic was used by the kidnappers of Ken Bigley last year to ratchet up the pressure on Britain before he was eventually killed.

But last night an Islamic insurgent group holding 40-year-old American hostage Ronald Schulz announced it had killed him because the US government had not met its demands, which included freeing all Iraqi prisoners. In a statement, the group said: "War criminal Bush continues with his arrogance and no-one has any value unless they serve his criminal interests. Therefore the American security adviser pig at the housing ministry has been killed."

If true, Mr Schulz would be the first foreign hostage killed in Iraq since late July, when two Algerians were executed. Before that, a Japanese hostage was killed in May this year and an Italian hostage in December last year. The last American hostage to die was Jack Hensley in September 2004.

The reported killing follows a spate of foreign hostage- taking in Baghdad and came as Iraqi security forces were braced for a spike in violence ahead of the election.

Earlier yesterday, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, had made clear to the kidnappers of Mr Kember that officials in Iraq and the Middle East were ready to hear from them. Mr Straw repeated his appeal for the 74-year-old peace campaigner's release and renewed a call for his captors to get in touch.

He said: "We have people in Iraq itself and in the region and they are ready to hear from the kidnappers."

However, Mr Straw has also made it clear that Britain cannot and will not meet the kidnappers' demands.

He said that it was "hard to imagine the terrible distress" being suffered by Mr Kember's wife Pat, adding: "Our thoughts and prayers are with them. As I have said before, if the kidnappers want to get in touch with us we want to hear what they have to say."

Anas Altikriti, who has been dispatched to the Middle East by the Muslim Association of Britain to try to secure Mr Kember's release, claimed that the postponement of the deadline meant the outlook for him was now much better.

Mr Kember had travelled to Iraq as a gesture of solidarity with the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), an international peace group.