August 10, 2009

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) - A militant commander who is holding a U.S. soldier abducted in Afghanistan said Sunday that Taliban leader Mullah Omar's council is waiting for a response to its demands before deciding the American's fate.

It was the first news of Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, made public since a Taliban video was released July 18.

Maulvi Sangin, an insurgent commander for eastern Afghanistan, said the Taliban's governing body was awaiting a response to demands it made to the U.S. for his return.

Previous:

Was Bergdahl a deserter? Back to the rape analogy
Noted NY terror supporter harassing family of American hostage
Video: Pvt Bowe Bergdahl full hostage video

July 29, 2009

There were altogether five British hostages being held by Iranian backed Shia Islamists, but the bodies of two of the hostages were found last month. Now the British seem to think that two more of the three remaining hostages are dead.

We've already let one terrorist -- a Shia militiaman named Laith al-Khazali -- out of US custody in order to secure the release of these hostages and in return we've gotten 2 corpses and will likely get two more.

How is that policy of engaging terrorists and acquiescing to their demands going for ya there?

Fox:

Two of three British hostages being held in Iraq are likely to have died in captivity, British media reported Wednesday....

The BBC reported that Britain's Foreign Office informed the families of two security guards that they "very likely" had died.

Thanks to Vin.

July 22, 2009

The New York Taliban and Osama bin Laden supporter formerly known as Joseph Cohen, Yousef al-Khattab, claims he has called the family of American hostage Bowe Bergdahl.

Thank God that the Bergdahl family didn't answer the phone, or they might have heard Yousef claiming that their son -- who the Taliban are threatening to murder -- is a "colonial occupier" fighting for the Zionists in Israel.

Here's what Kattab says over at Islamic Awakening:

The Taliban Mujihadeen have captured a American (USA) colonialist occupier, and USAF Ret. Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski had stated HERE that "The Operation in Afghanistan is rooted in Israel". This motivated me to call PFC. Bowe Bargdahl's family who did not pick up the phone. The next best person I tried to contact was Sheriff Walt Femling & was kindly given the oppurtunity to leave my questions for him on his voice mail.

The Sheriff is not available to take the call as he's preparing for a press conference, but Khattab leaves a voice mail. In it, he identifies himself and says that he is calling the Sheriff's office because the Bergdahl's are not answering the phone and that the Sheriff is the closest person to the family that he knows of.

He quotes the retired Air Force colonel mentioned above linking Afghanistan to some grand Zionist conspiracy. He then asks the Sheriff three questions "about what the people in Idaho might think".

First, he asks the Sheriff if he looks at Bow Bergdahl "as a hero or as a colonist occupier of a sovereign nation".

Second, "What is your opinion now of the American Jewish population who Bow is facing a possible execution for furthering their interests."

Third, "Do you feel at ease knowing that Islam forbids torture. So we know that Bow will not be raped or waterboarded like the American terrorist regime in Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, or the secret detention centers wherever they may be."

Remember, this is a man who mocked Daniel Pearl and claimed he was glad Pearl had been murdered. He even prayed that the Taliban would murder a group of Korean hostages they were holding for the alleged crime of preaching Christianity.

Can you imagine the trauma of having a Taliban supporter call you while your son's life hangs in the balance at the whim of the Taliban?

His intention was apparently to ask these same questions to the Bergdahl family that he asked of the Sheriff. If that isn't an attempt to traumatize further an already traumatized family, I don't know what is.

Khattab is a traitor, a scumbag, and an all around piece of excrement. He lives and works in New York City.

You can call Khattab at 718-312-8203.

Thanks to Jen who's sickened over the reaction over at Islamic Awakening. Me too. And for the record, Bergdahl is neither a hero or some kind of Zionist tool. He is a victim. A victim of the Taliban terrorists and the evil Islamist ideology they represent.

July 20, 2009

Was the reason that Pvt. Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban because he was a deserter?

Short answer: I don't care.

Long answer: I don't care, he's an American (one of us) and the Taliban are our enemies in a hot war. They have one of our soldiers.

Even if the Taliban took Michael Moore hostage I'd have a similar response.

Michael Moore is a douche, but he's our douche.

No person deserves the fate of a hostage in the hands of the Taliban. I'm told by a friend that Islamists are having a field day over at a certain well known forum contrasting how well Bergdahl is being treated by the Taliban with how poorly the US treats its POWs captured in the War on Terror.

If you think they make a good point, you are a moral idiot.

I cannot say how well Bergdahl is being treated by the Taliban. Let us assume it's three squares a day and conjugal visits. So what? At the end of the day he will probably be murdered.

Not executed. Not killed. Murdered.

Bergdahl committed no crime. He was a soldier in war. He is not a POW. He is a hostage.

Whatever crimes he is accused of committing by the Taliban are fabrications. Crimes against Islam are no crimes at all. They are sins.

If you believe people should be killed for sinning then perhaps you would feel more comfortable living in Saudi Arabia or Iran?

As for the desertion claim that some are writing in to Michelle Malkin about, I have no idea. Passing along rumors as fact is a popular past time among soldiers of all stripes.

I think, perhaps, we may be confusing the term desertion with AWOL (Absent Without Leave).

Very few soldiers desert, but thousands of them go AWOL every year. The key difference being that a deserter leaves and intends never to return. Someone who goes AWOL simply leaves, but with the intention of coming back. Usually because there is some fun to be had. Say, with one of the local girls? Generally you don't get permission from your commanding officer to visit the local red light district. Especially in Afghanistan.

Most AWOL cases are simply errors of judgment. You can't put tens of thousands of college age men anywhere on Earth and not expect lapses of judgment.

The surprising thing is so few major lapses in personal judgment happen. There is something about the training and culture of the U.S. armed services that takes a group of otherwise irresponsible youth and molds the majority of them into men.

Desertion, itself, may also be a lapse of judgment. If there is any veracity to the rumor that Bergdahl wanted to go "to the mountains to find himself" then clearly the young man was not in his right mind. Nobody goes to the Hindu Kush to find themselves. There aren't any Buddhist monasteries there with wise yet surprising witty monks -- with hot daughters -- guarding sacred knives.

Someone deserting in Afghanistan is unclear on the concept.

So, let's reserve judgment on Bergdahl for now. He's an American soldier being held hostage by our enemies in a hot war.

Let's not make him a target for our frustrations when our anger should be reserved for the Taliban. He is a victim.

As I've said over and over through the years, hostages often exercise extremely poor judgment and put themselves in situations which lead to their captivity.

But so do rape victims. Putting yourself in a bad situation does not morally excuse the monsters who would take advantage of your poor judgment. The person who is raped is a victim plain and simple.

In the case of hostages it is even more troubling than after the fact analysis of other crimes where the victim exercised poor judgment. That we are talking about Bergdahl's role in his own victimization while that victimization continues seems pretty bad to me. I don't know what to call it. Call it bad manners.

It's one thing to say Jodie Foster really should have worn panties and not been so flirty well after the fact, but it's another thing altogether to sit in the bar corner and tisk-tisk her for being so slutty while the rape is happening.

Bergdahl is being victimized right now. The Taliban are threatening to kill him right now.

I don't care if he wandered off in search of booze, a good time with one of the local women, or even if he was deserting and had some odd notion that he could wend his way home to Idaho or find Nirvana high on a mountain top.

The bad guys in this story are the Taliban. Bergdahl is the good guy. A flawed protagonist? Maybe. Like Clint Eastwood in insert-name-of-all-Clint-Eastwood-movies-here. But the protagonist nonetheless.

We're rooting for you Bowe Bergdahl. You and your family are in our prayers.

July 19, 2009

Here is the entire video showing Private Bowe Berdahl in Taliban captivity. The Taliban have threatened to murder him if the U.S. does not leave Afghanistan.

Until Bowe Bergdahl's captors are dead I will not rest. For those who speak of coming to some sort of agreement with the Taliban I would remind you of the kind of scum we are talking about.

I wasn't planning on coming back to the blog for a few days in order to sort my personal affairs out after a prolonged vacation went very very bad. To be honest I was questioning whether or not I would come back at all.

But it's as if I've been awakened from a slumber and I can't recall why I ever went to sleep. This video reminds me why I began to blog in the first place. I want these Taliban dead. Killed. Annihilated.

I'm back, and I declare war on the Taliban.

UPDATE: Since I haven't been back in so long, I had no idea who was covering this. Flopping Aces links a pretty good article on the violation of international law that this represents. I'll send you over there to read it.

The major issue to me isn't interntaional law -- only inasmuch as it reveals the hypocrisy of the far Left who constantly cite all of our minor infractions in an effort to equivocate between America and her enemies like the Taliban -- the major issue is that an American is being held hostage by America's enemies.

I want our hostages freed and our enemies killed. This is what patriots think. If that is not on your mind then, yes, I question your patriotism.

UPDATE 7/20: My thoughts on the claims being made that Bergdahl was a deserter are here. Synopsis: please don't blame the victim!

July 15, 2009

(Algiers, Algeria) Sources report that Switzerland paid millions of euros to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb for the release of the Swiss hostage, Werner Greiner.

According to Liberté, quoting informant sources, a Malian intermediary was to have delivered the 5 million euros to the terrorist group.

According to the Arab language newspaper El Khabar, the sum was set at 3 million, and arrived in northern Niger with a Tuareg intermediary.

Yesterday and official (sic) from the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Markus Boerlin, stated that "Switzerland did not negotiate with the kidnappers or pay the ransom".

It's noteworthy that Greiner was kidnapped in January along with Brit citizen Edwyn Dyer who was killed, reportedly due to London's refusal to pay a ransom.

June 22, 2009

Via The Times:

Fears were growing for Britain’s three remaining hostages in Iraq after the decomposed bodies of two men were identified as their fellow captives Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst.

Officials in London and Baghdad still hope that Peter Moore, a computer consultant, and two security guards known only as Alan and Alec will be released alive. Sources familiar with the case said that there was a concern that all five men, kidnapped more than two years ago, could be dead....

...A source in Baghdad said that the kidnappers’ decision to give the dead men to Iraqi officials could have been a “goodwill gesture” in response to the freeing earlier this month of an insurgent connected to the gang.

Asaib al-Haq is a tool of the government of Iran. In my experience Iranian backed militias have been very good at keeping hostages a long time. They don't just murder them outright, they want something for them. And unless the word comes from Iran they are held.

There is not doubt that the Iranian regime is directly responsible for these murders.

Surely president Obama will come out with a strong statement condemning Iran for its behavior someday maybe.

Our hearts go out to the families of those killed and those that remain unaccounted for.

I've received some criticism in comments for not running this. Its not that I did not see it. Its just that its hard enough for the families. Add to that its not a very fun post to write you know.

These cases were kept quiet as a tactic to help try and get them back. A policy we think seldom helps.

So to talk it up now after the fact is a day late and a dollar short IMO. But its worth while to express our outrage and sorrow at the murder of these men at the hands of Iran's shadow forces.

Sorry I did not get to it earlier.

June 09, 2009

Via Long War Journal:

The US military has released a senior member of a deadly terror group backed by Iran that has been directly implicated in the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers in Karbala in during a complex operating in early 2007.

Laith al Qazali was freed last weekend "as part of a reconciliation effort" as well as an attempt to secure the release of captive British hostages, according to a report in The New York Times.

Laith is the brother of Qais Qazali, the commander of the Qazali network which better known as the Asaib al Haq or the League of the Righteous. Qais Qazali was a spokesperson and senior aide to Mahdi Army leader Muqtada al Sadr. The terror group, which was part of the Mahdi Army until the spring of 2008, has received extensive financial and military support from Iran's Qods Force, the external division that backs Hezbollah and is tasked with supporting the Khomeinist Islamist revolution.

June 03, 2009

Via FOXNEWS:

LONDON — Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday that a Briton held captive in Mali has probably been killed by Al Qaeda terrorists.

A statement issued in the name of Al Qaeda on an Internet site frequently used for extremist messages said the captive, Edwin Dyer, was killed on Sunday.

Dyer was abducted in January. His captors in Mali had threatened to kill him if Britain refused to release extremist preacher Abu Qatada from prison.

Update: An English translation of the statement by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is below the fold.

The organization Al Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb

Statement concerning the execution of the British hostage Edwen Dyer

Prays to God who says in His book:
“Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers (in fight), smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly (on them): thereafter (is the time for) either generosity or ransom: Until the war lays down its burdens.” (From verse 4, Surat Muhammad), and peace and benediction be upon the messenger of God who said: “Free the prisoner”, and upon his family and companions, and those who follow them until the Day of Judgment.

After the end of the second term, allowed by the Mudjahidin to Britain, after the refusal to respond to our legal requests, and in agreement with the promises and threats of the Mudjahidin, we declare to our Muslim brothers and to the public opinion what follows:

On the sixth of Djumaada the Second 1430, corresponding to 31/05/2009, at 7:30 PM local time, the hostage Edwen Dyer has been killed so that he and British government taste a very small part of the daily sufferings of innocent Muslims at the hands of the coalition of jews and crusaders, from east to west of the world.

The mudjahidin have cleared themselves and spent all their efforts to find an acceptable arrangement, on top of allowing enough time to the British negotiator and accepting to extend the duration of negotiations to a second term.

However, it seems that Britain does not give any value to its citizens and sticks to its arrogance, violation of rights and injustice of Muslims. Let Gordon Brown and his aggressive government then harvest the fruits of their thoughtless policy regarding the Muslims.

We here emphasize the complicity of the British Medias who acquiesced to the instructions of their government by concealing and not exposing the case to the internal public opinion so that reality would have been clarified and the swindling of the government with the lives of its citizens would have appeared. This, in spite of the flexibility of the Mudjahidin and in spite of their efforts to find a solution that would have suited everybody.

We also want to insure our Muslim community that we won’t forget our prisoners, God willing, even if people forget them, and that we will stay firm in our struggle and our sacrifices, fighting the enemies of God among Jews, Christians, and apostates, in agreement with the Word of our Lord and the guidance of our Prophet, peace be upon him. We don’t care about the forsaking of the abandoners and the objections of the contradictors, those who elevate their voice with affliction and concern for the life of a Christian unbeliever who did not receive any (Islamic) legal guarantee of safety, while they keep quiet in a silence of cemetery when it is about saying the truth and assisting thousands of killed and imprisoned among weak Muslims. Their weak persons refrain cowardly from facing the oppressors who crush us, occupy our lands and violate our honor.

If they don’t defend religion by fervor, had they only reacted for the honours

And if they retract from the award when battle heats, had they only come for the earnings

The comity of information, organization Al Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Tuesday, Djumaada the second 1430, corresponding to 02/06/2009.

Source: Al Fajr Media Center

Translation: RafidaynCenter

May 13, 2009

Via Vicki

The friends of Amanda and Nigel have scheduled a prayer vigil for May 23, marking nine months of captivity in Somalia:

See these websites for more.
http://freeamandalindhout.blogspot.com/
http://www.amandalindhout.com/

Event here on Facebook, and more here also on Facebook.

Our prayers are with them, and we hope for their immediate and unconditional release.

April 28, 2009

Or else they'll murder a British hostage.

Via AFP: DUBAI (AFP) — Al-Qaeda's North African branch has threatened to execute a captive Briton if the British government does not release a Muslim cleric within 20 days, SITE Intelligence Group reported on Sunday.

The threat to kill the Briton came in a statement by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb posted on jihadist forums on April 26, said SITE, a US group which monitors Islamist websites.

The authenticity of the statement could not immediately be verified.

The Al-Qaeda group, according to SITE, is seeking freedom for Islamist cleric Abu Qatada, currently held in a British prison.

"We declare that the organisation still holds the British tourist and the Swiss tourist until the achievement of our legitimate demands," SITE quoted the Al-Qaeda statement as saying.

The statement did not set out the terms for the Swiss tourist's release.

April 22, 2009

Update on AlQaeda Kidnaps Six Westerners (Identified: 2 Canadians, 1 Brit, 1 German, 2 Swiss)

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has released four hostages but unfortunately the Brit and other Swiss(male) is still being held. The article doesn't state if monies or demands were met.

Al-Qaeda's North African[AQIM] branch on Wednesday released in Mali two Canadian diplomats, a German and a Swiss tourist kidnapped several months ago, but held on to two other Europeans.

The kidnappers released Robert Fowler, UN special envoy to Niger and his assistant Louis Gay, who were snatched in December last year in Niger and two female tourists out of a group of four nabbed in January.

"Four of the six hostages were released," said a security source in the northern town of Gao, speaking on condition of anonymity[...]

Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb has said it intended to unify armed Islamist groups in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco as well as emerging groups in countries bordering the Sahara.

They include Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.

The North African branch has raised concerns among Western countries after claiming a series of deadly suicide bombings in Algeria and other attacks in the region as well as several kidnappings.

April 12, 2009

Just came across the wires, no link yet.

Thanks to Newbie.

Update:Short blurb from Fox News:

U.S. intelligence official says American sea captain rescued from Somali pirates.

Three pirates were killed and one is in custody, the official said.

Update the second

Fox is reporting that he dove overboard a second time, and this time the Navy was ready for it.

Update by Stable Hand: FNC has update.

April 11, 2009

F**k ya!, see Breaking: Captain Free, Three Pirates Dead, One Captured

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates off the eastern coast of Africa fired on U.S. sailors Saturday as they tried to reach the lifeboat where an American captain is being held, a U.S. official familiar with the situation told CNN.

The gunfire forced the sailors, who did not return fire, to turn back, the official said.

The incident took place some 12 hours ago as the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge sent a small team toward the lifeboat, said the official.

One of the bastages hijacked ships they were using to help their buds was turned back today. heh

The German ship Hansa Stavanger(pictured) was among several pirated vessels trying to sail to the area some 300 miles off the Somali coast, a Somali journalist told CNN.

The pirate crew had intended to help the pirates holding Phillips but turned back because of the U.S. naval presence, the journalist said. The Hansa Stavanger is now at the Somali port of Eyl, the journalist said.

As I noted before, the last thing we need is the pirates taking Captain Phillips to the Somalia mainland. A former Somali pirate hostage, Telegraphs foreign correspondent Charles Freeman, had this to say:

Had the pirates got the sailors onto the Somali mainland, it could have been the worst US hostage crisis since the storming of the American Embassy in 1979.

There are, after all, plenty of Somalis who'd have been willing to pay the pirates good money for their catch - not least the hardline al shebab Islamist movement[? U.S. designated terrorist organization..ed], whose alleged[?] links to al Qaeda have seen them targeted by US missiles.

I hope and pray this ends soon and Captain Phillips is reunited with his family.

Update: According to this story the lifeboat does have fuel. It was reportedly earlier it didn't. Unsure which is true:

[...]Sources added that, contrary to earlier news reports, the pirates had fuel on the lifeboat and had used it to move within 20 miles off the African coast.

Update II: Below the fold:

From the original link:

Maersk also announced today it had set up an e-mail address "where concerned persons from around the world may send messages of support for the captain, crew and families of the Maersk Alabama."

People were invited to send their thoughts to maersklinelimited.com

"We would like to recognize all the expressions of support received already," the company said as it disclosed the e-mail address Saturday.

April 10, 2009

This tugs on my heart strings. Damn, If only our snipers had their scopes on these arseholes heads, the standoff would have been over. This sucks testes.

A Somali negotiator said Friday pirates holding American ship captain Richard Phillips hostage want a $2 million ransom and are ready to kill Phillips if attacked.

The announcement by the unidentified Somali, who helped negotiate a ransom paid last year to pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks, comes the same day Phillips was recaptured after he made an escape attempt from the life boat where he is being held hostage.

The negotiator said he has spoken with a pirate leader on the ground in Somalia who is coordinating action on the lifeboat adrift in the Indian Ocean. He says the plan is to get the hostage to shore to negotiate from a better position.

Sometime overnight, captain Phillips got away for a short period, and jumped off the lifeboat in an attempt to swim away, probably managing to escape through the lifeboat's backdoor. The drama was witnessed at some distance by the U.S. Navy, but it reportedly happened so quickly they could not provide assistance.

Defense officials said that one of the pirates fired an automatic weapon when Phillips tried to swim to safet,[sic] but it was not clear whether the pirate fired at the fleeing hostage, or into the air.

Also on Friday officials said other pirates sought to reinforce their colleagues by sailing hijacked ships with other captives aboard to the scene of the standoff.[...]

Mohamed Samaw, a resident of the pirate stronghold in Eyl, Somalia, who claims to have a "share" in a British-owned ship hijacked Monday, said four foreign ships held by pirates are heading toward the lifeboat. A total of 54 hostages are on two of the ships — citizens of China, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Tuvalu, Indonesia and Taiwan.

Getting Phillips to shore would be devastating, alQaeda linked al-Shabaab would undoubtedly join in.

April 08, 2009

Outrageous! Roxana has been held for months with no one allowed to contact her. She was at first accused of buying wine, alcohol is prohibited in Iran. Now the *cough*revolutionary*kangaroo*court*cough* has accused her of espionage and says she has already confessed.

VIA AFP: TEHRAN (AFP) — US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been detained in a notorious Tehran prison since January, has been charged with spying, deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad said on Wednesday.

"Her case has been sent to the revolutionary court. She, without press credentials, was carrying out spying activities under the guise of being a reporter," Haddad was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

"The evidence is mentioned in her case papers and she has accepted all the charges. She has been arrested under the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The decision to charge the journalist comes despite calls by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her release and US President Barack Obama extending diplomatic overtures towards Iran.

Iran needs to release Roxana Saberi immediately and allow her to return to the US. I've placed this post under the category hostages because in effect, Roxana Saberi, is being held by the Islamist "revolutionary" branch of the Iranian government.

UPDATE by Rusty: Cristi has related thoughts here.

Photo Credit BBC

April 07, 2009

Seriously, what moron didn't see this one coming from a mile away? After "holding" the woman behind the pro-terror Jihad Unspun website for months and threatening to behead her if ransom wasn't paid, the Taliban have decided that maybe they won't kill Beverly Giesbrecht after all.

Thank you Canada for not caving in to the obvious ruse for Beverly, who calls herself Khadija Abdul Qahaar online, to help raise money for the Taliban.

All along I've hemmed and hawed and hedged my bets about this. Not wanting Bev to be killed only to find out that the morons who run the Taliban have never heard of Jihad Unspun and so thought they were killing another Zionist-Crusader.

But the decision by the Taliban to not kill Beverly Giesbrecht, even without getting the $375,000 ransom, pretty much seals it in my mind: the whole thing was an elaborate ruse to make money for her beloved "freedom fighters" -- as she liked to call the barbarians of the Taliban.

You'll notice that the Taliban spokesman cited is named "Qari". No doubt this is Qari Youssef Mohammad, the Taliban's normal spokesman. Qari and I are old buddies.

As a matter of fact if the Taliban are so benevolent, Qari, then there is the little matter of that other American hostage you are holding. How about releasing him you mother-f*cking barbarians? Show how nice you are and score some good PR points.

On to the report. Globe and Mail:

“After broad-based consultations, the Shura [leadership council] has postponed indefinitely the plan to kill the woman,” said Qari, a close associate of Taliban commander Gul Bahadur who asked to be identified by his first name only....

“For the time being, we failed to patch up the deal to secure her release,” said a tribal elder who is part of the negotiation team and who did not want his name revealed. “But I am optimistic she will be freed.”

Thanks to Alex.

Related:
Time Up: Did Taliban Murder Pro-Taliban Activist Beverly Giesbrecht
Video: Taliban Threaten to Behead Pro-Taliban Canadian "Journalist"
Taliban Wants $375,000 For Kidnapped Canadian Taliban Supporter
Karma: Canadian Taliban Supporter Kidnappped, Presumably by Taliban
Bye, bye Jihad Unspun
Canadian Jihad Website shuts down
Openly pro-jihad website not "hate speech"

April 04, 2009

Excellent news (the release of Soleck)
Update on - Video: BLUF Threaten to Murder American John Solecki in Hostage Video

Apparently the NYT's felt a separate article wasn't important enough so they included it in a article about a very disturbing, security wise, suicide bomb attack in Islamabad:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up in an upper-class neighborhood of the capital on Saturday night, killing at least eight paramilitary security officers posted at a camp set up on a main road for the protection of the area’s foreign diplomats and well-to-do residents.

Also on Saturday, an American worker for the United Nations kidnapped near the Afghan border more than two months ago was freed, according to Jennifer Pagonis, a United Nations official. Ms. Pagonis said that the worker, John Solecki, had been released south of Quetta.

Mr. Solecki was seized Feb. 2 by gunmen who killed his driver in the southwestern city of Quetta in Baluchistan. A suspected separatist group, the previously unknown Baluchistan Liberation United Front, claimed responsibility and threatened to kill Mr. Solecki if the government did not release more than 1,000 imprisoned members of Baluchistan separatist groups.

A intelligence official in Quetta said no prisoners were released to free Mr. Solecki.

[...]The suicide attack occurred at 8 p.m., when many families were gathering for dinner in nearby houses, and after senior police officials had been warning for more than a week that suicide bombers had entered the city.

Pakistani officials were especially unnerved because the attack appeared to have been slightly more involved than other recent suicide missions here that were thought to have been carried out by lone bombers, according to an official with the Interior Ministry who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The attack on Saturday appeared to include at least two people, one of them a gunman who the official said fired shots after the bombing.

April 03, 2009

But it turns out that the terrorist doing the negotiating is actually Jemaah Islamiyah member...Via VOA:

One of three Red Cross workers kidnapped in the Philippines by the extremist Abu Sayyaf group has been freed. Philippine officials welcomed her release, but it emerged that the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorist network may have been involved in the kidnapping - pointing to a link-up between two of Southeast Asia's most violent groups...

...Earlier in the week, the group had threatened to kill one of the three Red Cross workers it kidnapped in January. It is still holding Swiss Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni. Officials say they are still alive, and the Red Cross again appealed for their release...

...Philippine National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales says the man who claimed to be Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad during telephone negotiations was actually a J.I. militant named Muawiyah.

March 27, 2009

Abu Sayyaf, the Filipino arm of the global Islamist insurgency, has threatened to behead a female Red Cross worker if their demands aren't met. News reports do not indicate if the victim will be Andreas Notter (Switzerland), Mary Jean Lacaba (Philippines) or Eugenio Vagni (Italy). AP:

Al-Qaida-linked militants have threatened to behead one of three Red Cross hostages in one week unless Philippine troops pull back from the guerrillas' southern jungle stronghold, officials said Wednesday.

The latest threat was made by Abu Sayyaf commander Albader Parad on Monday during a phone conversation with a government official.

March 23, 2009

Via BBC:

The kidnappers of five Britons held in Iraq for nearly two years have sent a new video of the captives to the British embassy in Baghdad.

The video shows one hostage, Peter Moore, saying the five are being treated well, Channel 4 News said. He calls for their release.

The video was shot eight days ago and has not been released to the media.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman did not give details but said it was a "significant development".

Mr. Moore and four others will have been held for two years at the end of May.

March 13, 2009

Update: Toronto Sun is reporting the aid workers have been freed. Thank goodness.
FNC

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Armed men stormed an aid agency compound in Darfur and kidnapped three Westerners, heightening fears that foreigners will be targeted in the backlash over the international arrest warrant for Sudan's president.

The three workers for Doctors Without Borders were kidnapped late Wednesday in a government-controlled area in northern Darfur, close to a stronghold of government-allied Arab militiamen known as janjaweed.

The Sudanese government condemned the attack and denied any involvement. But officials quickly blamed the arrest warrant issued last week by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court accusing President Omar al-Bashir of war crimes in Darfur[...]

The gunmen seized a Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French coordinator, along with two Sudanese guards who were released several hours later, Sandars said. It was not clear if violence was used in the abduction.

Yesterday unidentified gunmen abducted five aid workers form Médecins Sans Frontières – Belgium (MSF), two Sudanese, a Belgian nurse, a Canadian doctor and French coordinator. The Sudanese are released early today with a demand of ransom for the release of the abducted foreigners[...]

However, the spokesperson of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) accused a militia led by Musa Hilal, of abducting the MSF workers. Hilal who is a leader of Darfurian Mahameed clan, is also accused of taking part in Darfur terror campaigns orchestrated by Khartoum.

Ahmed Hussein Adam said the kidnappers conducted the aid hostages to Gelay, north eastern of Kabkabiyya the headquarters of Musa Hilal militias.

From Brussels, MSF Belgium said today it plans to withdraw from Darfur. "This will be a further blow to the delivery of humanitarian assistance in that area, so the consequences are also extremely worrying for the civilians of Darfur," said Christopher Stokes, general director of MSF Belgium, in a press conference held today.

The abduction occurred two days after the establishment of an alliance of Sudanese Islamist jihadists and Darfur pro-government militia groups pledging to carry out 250 attacks against countries that are supporting the decisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Musa Hilal, who is an adviser for the ministry of federal government, is one of the members of this alliance as the head of the Darfur Lions Brigade.

The Darfur rebel movements condemned the kidnapping and said only the Sudanese government bears responsibility of the abduction.

The hostages are in my thoughts and prayers, lets hope they soon will be released unharmed.

h/t leapofaith

March 02, 2009

We keep getting comments by ethnic Balochs claiming that the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) is just demanding its "rights" under the Geneva Convention. I'm not sure what those alleged "rights" are, but I'm pretty sure that the Geneva Convention prohibits hostage taking and then threatening to murder the hostage.

I've no idea the extent to which the Punjab dominated Pakistan government oppresses Balochs, but given Pakistan's track record it wouldn't surprise me in the least that their human rights record in Balochistan is horrendous. Nevertheless, taking aid workers hostage and threatening to murder them is not a legitimate form of political protest.

John Solecki must be released now. John Solecki must be released unconditionally. Period.

Earth Times:

The United Nations Monday made a fresh appeal for the release of its official, John Solecki, who is being held by Baloch separatists in south-west Pakistan, a day after his captors threatened to kill him if the government did not release more than 1,100 prisoners in four days, officials and media reports said. "We keep appealing for the immediate and safe release of Mr Solecki," said UN spokeswoman Maki Shinohara, while confirming that the world organization had learned about the deadline.

A shadowy rebel group, the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF), in a letter sent to the local Online news agency late Sunday, said that it was extending the earlier deadline, giving the government four days to free the prisoners....

"We are giving the last deadline for meeting our demands," warned the letter, saying the state institutions should be held responsible if Solecki got killed.

The BLUF also urged Solecki's mother, relatives and friends to ask American and international human rights organizations to play a role in the release of 1,109 people who it said were being held by Pakistan's law enforcement agencies.

February 19, 2009

SITE reports that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have taken six more Westerners hostages. Photos of the six are said to have been posted by al Qaeda's North Africa branch on Islamist forums.

I just got this, so I haven't checked the usual forums to see who these hostages are or what AQIM's demands are. I expect to have that information shortly.

My best guess is that none of them are Americans since AQIM uses hostage taking as a way to fund their various operations and European governments are far more likely to pay ransom. As noted on countless occasions, the policy of paying ransom helps hostages in the immediate short term, but the long term consequences puts far more people in jeopardy.

One thing to notice about the pics SITE publishes is that you'll notice the women have had their faces blurred out. The murdering hostage-taking extremists wouldn't want to offend any one by showing a little cheek flesh......

Expect updates.

UPDATE: These are not new kidnappings, but finally we have confirmation by AQIM that Canadians Robert Fowler & Louis Guay are among the six. We reported that the pair were suspected of being kidnapped last month. Fowler was a senior UN peace envoy to Niger.

The other four hostages are the tourists we reported on a few weeks ago. In that report we noted that AQIM goes out of its way not to take Americans hostage.

They're in it for the money, which we won't fork over, but they're also wary of drawing American troops into the already lost cause of establishing an Islamic state in North Africa.

The Canadians and Europeans would be wise not to negotiate for the hostages' release. They should strap on a set and mount an all out rescue effort.

UPDATE II: Stable Hand found it. Google translation of the original message found below. It seems that the retards in AQIM think that Canadian Robert Fowler is some sort of envoy for the United States.

The other hostages are listed as:
Edwen Dyer (Edwin Dyer?) from Britain.
Marianne Petzold (alt spelling?) from Germany.
Werner and Gabriella Burco Greiner (alt spelling?) both from Switzerland.

I've replaced the SITE pic above with the one I grabbed from the AQIM announcement. The two other pics below are also from it. One note about them is notice that they seem to be screen grabs from a video. Expect a hostage video.

Islamic Maghreb: [kidnapping American envoy and his assistant, and 4 Europeans]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم The name of God the Merciful

تنظيم القاعدة ببلاد المغرب الإسلامي Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb

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إختطاف المبعوث الأممي و مساعده و 4 سُوّاح أوروبيين Kidnapping of American envoy and his deputy, 4 European tourists
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الحمد لله رب العالمين و العاقبة للمتقين و لا عدوان إلا على الظالمين،و الصلاة و السلام على المبعوث بالسيف رحمة للعالمين و بعد: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and the consequence for those who fear and aggression, not only on the oppressors, and prayer and peace envoy to the mercy of the sword to the worlds, and after:

ففي الوقت الذي يواصل فيه تحالف الشر من اليهود و النصارى و المرتدين صولتهم على الإسلام و أهله في كل قطر... At a time when the alliance of evil continue to Jews and Christians and apostates Solthm to Islam and its people in each country ...

و في الوقت الذي يُسوق فيه أبناء فرنسا و عبيد أمريكا لانتصاراتهم الموهومة الكاذبة على المجاهدين،يسرنا أن نبشر أمتنا المسلمة ،بنجاح المجاهدين في تنفيذ عمليتين نوعيتين، داخل التراب النيجري. And marketed at a time when the people of France and the slaves of America's imaginary false Antsarathm the mujahideen, we are pleased to bring good tidings to the Muslim nation, the success of the mujahideen in the implementation of two qualitative, within the territory of Niger.

العملية الأولى:تمكن فيها المجاهدون بفضل الله منذ شهرين من اختطاف دبلماسيين كنديين بارزين: The first operation: the Mujahideen were able, thanks to God, two months since the kidnapping of prominent Canadians Dppelmasien:

الأول:هو روبرت فولر السفير السابق لكندا و المبعوث الأممي الخاص الحالي للنيجر. First: the former Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada and current special American envoy to Niger.

و الثاني:هو مساعده لويس غاي السفير السابق لكندا في الغابون . And the second is to: help Guy Lewis, former Ambassador of Canada in Gabon.

العملية الثانية:تمكن فيها المجاهدون بفضل الله يوم 22 جانفي2009م من اختطاف أربعة سواح أوروبيين بالنيجر هم على التوالي: The second: the Mujahideen were able, thanks to God, on 22 January 2009 of the kidnapping of four European tourists in Niger are, respectively:
edwen dyer من بريطانيا و marianne petzold من ألمانيا.و. edwen dyer from Britain and marianne petzold from Germany. and. werner greiner gabriella burco greiner و كلاهما من سويسرا. werner greiner gabriella burco greiner and both from Switzerland.
و نحن نعلن للرأي العام أن المجاهدين يحتفظون بحقهم في معاملة الأسرى الستة بما يقتضيه الشرع الإسلامي. We announce to the public opinion that the mujahadeen reserves the right to treatment of prisoners, including six required by Islamic law.

و من جهة أخرى فإن المجاهدين سيعلنون إن شاء الله لاحقا مطالبهم و شروطهم مقابل إطلاق سراح المختطفين. And the other hand, the mujahideen will announce that the God of their conditions and their subsequent return for the release of abductees.

هذا و إننا لا نمل و لا نكل بإذن الله من طمأنة إخواننا المسلمين بأننا سنمضي قدما في طريق الجهاد و القتال،نصرة للمظلومين و المستضعفين،و دفاعا عن أمتنا المسلمة. This and we do not and those who do not, but, God willing, to reassure our Muslim brothers that we are going forward in the path of Jihad and fighting, support of the oppressed and the vulnerable, and in defense of the Muslim nation.

February 16, 2009

Update on Rusty's post: Video: BLUF Threaten to Murder American John Solecki in Hostage Video

QUETTA, Pakistan — A spokesman for kidnappers holding an American captive in Pakistan says the deadline to negotiate for his life has been extended a "few days."