US cable says UK refused call with hostage in Mali

LONDON (AP) — A newly leaked U.S. diplomatic cable suggests U.K. officials refused to speak with a British hostage who was later killed by his al-Qaida captors in West Africa.

According to the cable released by WikiLeaks and published Friday by the Daily Telegraph newspaper, U.S. diplomats said a Malian politician claimed Britain declined his offer to facilitate a phone call with Edwin Dyer.

"The British apparently never accepted out of fear that speaking to the hostage could put them into a position of having to negotiate with terrorists," the U.S. cable states.

Britain's Foreign Office on Friday declined to comment on unauthorized leaked documents, but said "we talk to anyone who we judge can help secure the release of a hostage."

Dyer was kidnapped in 2009 by al-Qaida terrorists in Mali, a poor, landlocked West African country. He was later executed after the British government refused his captor's demands, including a ransom and the release of extremist preacher Abu Qatada from prison.