London: Three British citizens who travelled to Iraq to fight the coalition forces have joined Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist group, currently holding the Liverpool engineer Ken Bigley, a media report claimed today (Sep 26, 2004).

Quoting a resistance commander, 'The Sunday Times' said the Britons were accepted by followers of Zarqawi, the most ruthless terrorist leader in Iraq, on the recommendation of "clerics abroad".

Abu Muawiya, who spent eight months in Zarqawi's Tawhid wal Jihad (TWJ) group, claimed it had attracted scores of fighters from other Arab nations, the paper reported.

"Three Muslim British citizens are among a handful of non-Arab foreigners who have joined Zarqawi in his war against the coalition forces," Muawiya was quoted as saying.

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

The claim followed British Prime Minister Tony Blair's remarks last week that Iraq had become the "crucible of global terrorism". It also came amid concern among Labour party officials that the hostage crisis and the wider conflict could overshadow this week's party conference in Brighton, about 100 km from London.

Paul Bigley, one of the brothers of the hostage, said 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.

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

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 "no credible".

Blair's spokesman said: "The Prime Minister is as concerned as the rest of the country for the safety of Bigley."

The Muslim Council of Britain, which sent two envoys to Iraq to press for Bigley's release, said Blair had given its leaders an assurance 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.