UK hostage alive, says brother
 |  Kenneth Bigley identifies himself in a video shown on an Islamist Web site on September 18. |
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|  VIDEO |
 Liverpool calls for mercy for Kenneth Bigley.
 Bigley's family continues to plead for his safe return.
 U.S. officials suspect Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to be behind beheadings.
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(CNN) -- The brother of Kenneth Bigley, a British hostage being held in Iraq, says he has information the captive is still alive.
"I have received information," Paul Bigley said in a telephone call with CNN from Amsterdam, "that Ken is still alive, and that we have a dialogue open."
Bigley, a 62-year-old engineer, was kidnapped from his Baghdad home 10 days ago along with two Americans, who were later beheaded.
Bigley's fate is still unknown, though an Islamic Web site reported on Saturday that he too had been killed.
But Paul Bigley says he was not persuaded by that claim and he was not relying on the British government to resolve the hostage crisis. The British government was also wary of the Internet claim.
"I think Ken is still with us," he said, without specifying his sources.
Saying he was angry that British PM Tony Blair has not made a personal appeal for the Briton's release, Paul Bigley said Monday he should resign as prime minister.
"Tony Blair is a gentleman and a statesman," he told BBC TV, but he added: "I think his sell-by date has gone and he has to go. There has to be a change of face, a change of policy, a change of dialogue."
The hostage's brother told CNN the war in Iraq was not worth the life of his brother -- or anyone else. "This war is not necessary," he said.
He added he did not support negotiating with terrorists, but said communication was critical.
"We have to fight terrorism, not negotiate, but we have to always have a dialogue," he said. "If you do not talk, if you choose to be silent, that is a kiss of death. You must communicate."
Blair said Sunday his government was doing everything it "properly and legitimately" could to secure the Bigley's release.
But he warned against raising "false hopes" that kidnappers would free him, and gave no indication the government had shifted from its refusal to negotiate with the hostage takers. (Full story)
Over the weekend, pleas mounted for Bigley's release. A delegation from the Muslim Council of Britain arrived in Iraq Saturday to appeal to the kidnappers to free Bigley, and met Sunday with Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar.
The delegation includes Dr. Dawud Abdullah and Dr. Musharraf Hussain, both respected figures in the the British Muslim community.
"We appeal to the group that is holding Ken Bigley to release him without delay and without harm," said Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the council.
"He is an elderly man and he is due to become a grandfather soon. Be merciful. Our religion, Islam, does not allow us to harm the innocent."
Miftah Osi-effa, chairman of the Muslim Committee, also issued a call for mercy.
"Islam completely forbids that any innocent individual should be targeted, bombed, harmed, oppressed, taken captive, tortured or killed."
The British delegation will be meeting with a number of Iraqi Muslim leaders during their visit to Baghdad.
In a letter dated Friday, Yusuf Islam -- the musician who performed during the 1970s as Cat Stevens -- pleaded for Bigley's captors to spare him.
"As a member of the Muslim Council, I request you in the name of Allah, the Rahman, to release the British citizen, Kenneth for the good name of our religion."
The musician added, "So please in Allah's name do an act of mercy and show the world the justice and mercy which Islam teaches us."
