Has Britain agreed to release detainees in its prisons for the release of hostage Ken Bigley?

British police are investigating a claim that Ken Bigley, the British engineer held for more than two weeks by a militant Islamic group in Iraq, will be freed if the UK government releases around a dozen high-profile detainees. The statement, purporting to come from the Tawhid and Jihad group, which has been holding Bigley for 17 days, was posted on the internet last week. It claims that Bigley, 62, will be released if around a dozen foreign Islamic militants held in Belmarsh high-security prison in south-east London are freed.

Abu Qatada, the militant cleric who has been detained for nearly two years, is the only prisoner mentioned by name in the statement, though Abu Hamza, the firebrand Egyptian-born cleric, is also held at Belmarsh. Qatada is a Jordanian, like Tawhid leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and is known to have been an influence on the group.

A Kuwaiti newspaper reported on the alleged swap.

'There's near certain information pointing to the entry of an Iraqi militant group into negotiations with [the Tawhid group] for the release of the British hostage,' the al-Rai al-Aam newspaper said, quoting 'informed Islamic sources' in Iraq.

British officials deny they would deal with terrorists. Bigley's family has passed out 100,000 leaflets in Baghdad with statements from Muslim leaders condemning Bigley's kidnapping.