British hostage Mr Kenneth Bigley may have been handed over to a new group in Iraq, his brother Paul said today.
The engineer (62) was seized 18 days ago with two Americans, both of whom were beheaded by their captors, by the Tawhid and Jihad group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an ally of al Qaeda.
"I am getting communiques from dear friends of mine - business friends and personal friends - who are based in Kuwait . . . that Ken possibly, and I reiterate possibly, has been handed over from the political baddies to the regular baddies," Mr Paul Bigley told Sky News.
He said he had also heard that those holding his brother would "like to negotiate a financial settlement".
Mr Bigley said his information had originally come from a newspaper in Kuwait, which on Saturday reported that an Iraqi militant group was prepared to enter negotiations for the release of Mr Bigley. The same newspaper accurately predicted the release of two Italian aid workers last week.
The British embassy in Iraq said it has had no word that Mr Bigley had been transferred.
Video footage of a distressed-looking Mr Bigley was released last week picturing him chained and squatting in a cage. He bitterly chided British Prime Minister Tony Blair for not negotiating with his captors.
Mr Blair has insisted his government will make no deals but has appealed for the hostage-takers to make contact.
Irish politicians, including the Taoiseach, Labour TD Mr Michael D Higgins, Sinn Féin leader Mr Gerry Adams and former SDLP leader Mr John Hume have all made efforts to secure Mr Bigley's release.
Mr Bigley's mother is from Ticknock in Dublin.