LONDON, Oct. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- British Queen Elizabeth II on Friday offered her condolences to the family of Kenneth Bigley, a hostage who has been killed by his captors in Iraq.

    According to Buckingham Palace, the Queen's private message wasaddressed to Bigley's 86-year-old mother Lily.

    The Queen's message came after British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his outrage over the "barbaric" killing of the 62-year-old engineer, abducted on Sept. 16 in Baghdad by the Tawhid and Jihad group which had beheaded his two US colleagues captured at the same time.

    "I feel utter revulsion at the people who did this. Not just atthe barbaric nature of the killing, but the way, frankly, they played with the situation over the past few weeks, and I feel a strong sense, as I hope others do, that the actions of these people, whether in Iraq or elsewhere, should not prevail over people like Ken Bigley, who after all only wanted to make Iraq andthe world a better place," Blair said in a brief televised statement.

    Other British politicians also joined Blair in expressing theiranger at the murder of Bigley.

    British major opposition Conservative Party leader Michael Howard condemned the killing as an act of "grotesque barbarity" ina statement, stressing that "to those who committed this atrociousand despicable act, our message is: We shall never give in to blackmail from terrorists."

    Charles Kennedy, leader of the second largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said that Bigley's murder was "simply horrific" and "just senseless and mindless brutality."

    British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who travelled to Bigley'shometown Liverpool on late Friday to visit his family there, earlier told reporters that the government had tried to stop hostage Bigley being killed by exchanging messages with his captors through an intermediary who had come forward four days ago.

    However, Straw said, the group had refused to drop demands for the release of woman captives though it was "aware" there were no woman in British custody in Iraq. Enditem