Tucker/Menchaca Torturer/Murderer Killed! UPDATE: Now with VIDEO!

Bumped: Video added of Abu Usama al-Tunisi's hideout getting bombed in an airstrike. Video at the end of this post.

The man who lead the al Qaeda cell responsible for the brutal murders of Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca has been killed. The group later released two videos showing the bodies of the two soldiers being desecrated.

The cell also killed Spc. David J. Babineau before they took Tucker and Menchaca hostage. Others in the cell had been previously killed or captured.

In fact, some time ago I was asked by the US military to send them a copy of the video to be turned over to Iraqi prosecutors in the case. I don't know what happened, but I pray they got the death sentence.

Literally hundreds of others in the military have asked for the video. Some of them knew the victims and felt they needed to see it for some sense of closure. Some of them were very close to the family. Some in the family.

Others wanted it so they could use it in training to show what our enemies are really like, as they portray themselves in their own propaganda videos.

The first of the two Tucker-Menchaca videos is so sickening, that it's hard to describe. But it includes a decapitated head. The second Tucker-Menchaca video shows the victims' bodies being dragged behind a truck and later lit on fire.

Death is too good for Abu Usama al-Tunisi and all those involved in the murders of Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca. His death will not bring them back, but I will sleep with a smile on my face knowing this piece of filth has been sent to hell.

RIP: David J. Babineau, Thomas Tucker, and Kristian Menchaca

Below: DOD footage of Abu Usama al-Tunisi's hideout getting pwned!

Thanks to my friend Iraqi Translator Marine for uploading it and to GM for pointing out that there was video.

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Jeffrey Ake--Still Missing in Iraq

After 2.5 years as a civilian hostage in Iraq, the friends and family of Jeffrey Ake in LaPorte, Indiana have not forgotten him. Neither have we. Neither should you.

Jeffrey Ake's church has a fund to help his wife Liliana deal with the situation. Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to.

LaPorte Missionary Church

LaPorte Missionary Church
Attn: Carl Galloway
104 E. 18th St., LaPorte, IN 46350

Or use the paypal button below

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Condition of Wounded Italian Hostage Worsens

Prayers are needed for the kidnapped Italian soldier who was shot during a rescue operation Monday. Via AP:

Premier Romano Prodi defended the decision to stage a risky raid to free two Italian intelligence operatives taken hostage in Afghanistan after the condition of one of the men deteriorated Tuesday.

"We are very worried" about the fate of the operative, Prodi said from New York, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The intelligence operative has been put on a respirator to help him breathe, Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said in a statement. The man has been in a NATO-run hospital in Afghanistan since being rescued Monday.

The two Italians, who worked for the SISMI intelligence service, disappeared along with their two Afghan colleagues Saturday. They were freed Monday by Italian commandos aided by other NATO forces and aircraft after the kidnappers began to move their hostages.

Italian special forces ambushed the convoy, sparking a gunbattle that killed at least nine of the kidnappers. Both Italians were injured, the other one not seriously.

It is always risky to try to rescue hostages, and as this case shows, the safety of those being rescued is not guaranteed. That is part of what makes kidnapping such a detestable practice, and why it is such a popular asymmetric strategy to use against Western societies. Hopefully the Italians won't let this incident paralyze themselves into inaction or submission to the terrorists.

Related: Injured Italian Hostages Shot By Taliban

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Italian Hostage Shot During Rescue

Two Italian soldiers kidnapped in Afghanistan Saturday were rescued by NATO troops earlier today, but one of the hostages was injured in the raid. Via Times Online:

Two Italian soldiers kidnapped in western Afghanistan were freed in a Nato-led raid early this morning after a two-day ordeal, the Italian Defence Ministry reported.

The two men were taken to hospital after the raid by British and Italian troops, during which one of the hostages was shot in the head and chest, according to Italian media reports. Up to seven of the kidnappers were killed.

It was not clear immediately who the abductors were, with reports suggesting variously that they belonged to the Taleban or to an independent criminal group planning to sell the hostages to the extremist fighters in Farah province, fast becoming a hotbed of unrest.

"According to our intelligence information, a Taleban commander, Mullah Abdul Hamid, had taken them," said Ali Khan Husseinzada, the police chief of criminal investigations for western Afghanistan.

However, the main Taleban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, insisted he knew nothing about the men. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said it would release details later today.

UPDATE on Soldiers' Condition:

One of the Italians was seriously wounded and doctors were evaluating whether to operate, Parisi said. The other had broken his shoulder and left collarbone, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Both had been beaten by their captors, said Afghan Gen. Jalandar Shah.

Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for the NATO force here, said it was not clear if the two Italians were wounded by gunfire from their rescuers or their kidnappers.

The Italians' Afghan translator was also wounded, and another Afghan, apparently their driver, was killed, Parisi said. Anthony hinted the driver might have helped in the kidnappings.

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Two Italian Soldiers Believed Kidnapped in Afghanistan

Two Italian soldiers went missing along with their Afghan driver and translator earlier today while on patrol in western Herat province. The Afghans returned to Herat City late Sunday without the soldiers, and Italian officials now believe the men to have been kidnapped. Via AFP:

The two Italians had been travelling in a volatile part of western Herat province with an Afghan interpreter and an Afghan driver when they went missing on Saturday, police said.

But the Afghans returned to Herat city late Sunday and were to be questioned Monday, said the police chief in charge of criminal investigations for the region, Ali Khan Husseinzada.

"We have not questioned them yet but we will summon them tomorrow to question them about the Italians," he said, adding it was still unclear what had happened to the foreigners.

Husseinzada said earlier that the group had been out of contact since Saturday when they visited Shindand district, a volatile area that has seen some activity by the hardline Taliban militia, known for kidnapping foreigners.

A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, said he did not know anything about the missing Italians.

Italians have been frequent targets of the Taliban in recent years. Aid worker Clementina Cantoni was abducted in 2005 in Kabul; photojournalist Gabriele Torsello was kidnapped in Helmand province in October 2006; and journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo and his driver and translator were kidnapped this past March. Mastrogiacomo was released in exchange for 5 imprisoned Taliban terrorists, however driver Sayad Agha was beheaded during the 3-week-long abduction, and translator Adjmal Nakshbandi was beheaded on Easter Day.

Prayers for the safety of the missing soldiers and all Coalition troops in Afghanistan.

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Video: Al Qaeda Murders Five Iraqis

Al Furqan, the media arm of al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq front group, has released a video showing the murder of five members of Iraq's Army. The Jawa Report has obtained a copy of the video.

The video shows the five hostages in front of the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq warning others not to join the Iraqi security forces. Later the five officers are shown on the streets where they are blindfolded, forced to kneel, and shot in the back of the head with a pistol by a mujahideen yelling "Allahu akhbar"--God is great. A second masked person is shown videotaping a second angle of the murders.

Al Qaeda posted the video in an effort to "prove" that the U.S. is losing in Iraq. Because nothing says we're winning like the murder of POWs.

I wonder if we'll see major coverage in the MSM about yet another Geneva Convention violation? Not only are they murdering captives, but they are celebrating those murders.

Yup, the US is just as bad as the enemies they fight. It's all the same. Keep telling yourself that.

Rest assured that if this was a video of Americans executing prisoners, it would be all over the news.

The Reuters headline calls the murders of the five men 'executions'..... via Breitbart:

An Iraqi al Qaeda-led group, the Islamic State in Iraq, has shot dead five abducted Iraqi army officers and posted a video of the execution-style killings on the Internet on Saturday.

The footage, posted on a Web site used by insurgents in Iraq, showed a masked gunman shooting the blindfolded officers in the head with a pistol at what seemed to be a secluded area.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT SHOWING THE TRUE NATURE OF THE 'INSURGENCY' IN IRAQ BELOW. more...

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Video: Terrorists Force German Hostage to Convert, Threaten to Murder Her Son

What is that I keep hearing about 'there is no compulsion in religion'? I don't know what else you call it when an old German woman held hostage by the Arrows of Righteousness Brigade converts and then suddenly she's set free. A case of 'I saw the light while being held hostage'?

This video was released today. Hannelore Marianne Krause was released by the Iraqi terrorist group in July. Now we know why. Her son is still being held hostage in Iraq. The group is now threatening to murder him if Germany doesn't withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 10 days.

Yes, an Iraqi terror organization calling for German troops out of Afghanistan. Video below. more...

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9 Iraqi Hostages Liberated from al Qaeda Torture House

It's from last week, but it's important. Most Iraqis probably don't like the idea of an extended U.S. stay, but given the choice between Americans and Taliban style Islamists, they choose us. Thank to GM. more...

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Abducted Britons Believed to be Held by "Shiite Zarqawi"

A disturbing look at the death squad leader named as the mastermind behind the May kidnapping of 5 British security contractors (via Times Online UK):

Iraq’s most infamous Shia death squad commander was accused yesterday of masterminding the kidnapping of five British citizens who have not been heard from since their abduction in Baghdad three months ago.

Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s Foreign Minister, told The Times that a group led by Abu Dera, a legendary figure with strong Iranian connections who is renowned for his brutality, was behind the abduction of the five Britons from the Iraqi Finance Ministry on May 29.

Mr Zebari said there was a striking similiarity between their abduction and that of Iraq’s Deputy Oil Minister by Abu Dera’s supporters on August 14. In both instances well-organised forces broke into heavily protected compounds.

The minister and five colleagues were seized by gunmen dressed in security force uniforms who forced their way into the offices of Iraq’s crude oil marketing agency. The Britons were seized by armed men dressed as Iraqi policemen who broke into the Finance Ministry. “I believe the same group who did this did the Ministry of Finance [raid],” Mr Zebari said in an interview in which he also cautioned of “catastrophic consequences” if Britain and America prematurely withdraw from Iraq.

Abu Dera is thought to command a breakaway faction of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, which is responsible for numerous attacks on Sunni civilians as well as British and American troops. His militia killed thousands of Sunnis in reprisals for the 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

Stories of his barbarity are legion. A profile published by the Jamestown Foundation reports that he once commandeered several ambulances, drove them into a Sunni neighbourhood and announced on loudspeakers that Shias were slaughtering Sunnis. The young Sunnis who rushed to help were killed.

He allegedly offers his victims the choice of being executed through suffocation, shooting or being smashed to death with cinder blocks. There is a video recording of a man believed to be Abu Dera kidnapping Saddam Hussein’s lawyer Khamis al-Obeidi, parading him through the streets of Sadr City, and then shooting him three times in the head.

The British government has kept strict secrecy regarding the latest abduction, and has not released the names of the captives. Their families are briefed by the Foreign Office, but have been ordered not to speak publicly about the missing men.

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Happy B-Day Gilad Shalit

Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit held by Hamas terrorists turns 21 today. May his captors rot in hell.

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German Hostage: "I Am in Very Bad Shape"

A German news report shows video footage of hostage Rudolf Blechschmidt, coughing and grasping his chest as he speaks:

"I am a prisoner of the Taliban here in Afghanistan," said the man, who identified himself as Rudolf Blechschmidt.

"I ask my friends, my family, my two sons to put more pressure on the German authorities in order to get us free."

"I am in very bad shape," he said. "My medication for my heart issue will run out in three days."

Blechschmidt was abducted in Afghanistan July 18 along with fellow engineer Ruediger Diedrich and 6 Afghan colleagues. Diedrich was shot to death a few days later after collapsing on a forced march through the mountains of Wardak province. One of the Afghans was released along with Diedrich's body; the other 5 are still being held by the Taliban.

One of the five Afghan hostages also sent a message to President Hamid Karzai, begging for help: (via Reuters):

"In the name of God, we are five Afghans and two Germans, abducted by Taliban, among us one of the Germans had a heart attack and has died, and the second German has diabetes, he has heart problems, he is sick," one of the Afghan hostages said.

"We Afghans demand the Karzai administration's help to release us because of our children," he said, standing with a group of men in front of a rocky outcrop.

"We are Afghans. The Taliban are also Afghans, we are sure there is possibility the Karzai government can release us."

Continued prayers for the health and safety of these hostages, and the strength to endure until they can be rescued.

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Iranian Hostage Haleh Esfandiari Freed!

Thank God! Dr. Haleh Esfandiari (right) of The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars had been held hostage on trumped up espionage charges by the Iranians since Dec. 30th of last year. It is not immediately clear if she will be allowed to return to her home in the U.S. or will be prohibited from leaving Iran pending trial on these trumped up charges.

Two other Americans are being held hostage by the Iranian government. They are Parnaz Azima from the U.S.-funded Radio Farda and UCI Professor Ali Shakeri. A third American, Kian Tajbakhsh of the Open Society Institute (above), is barred from leaving Iran.

I call them hostages because it has been clear from the beginning that these Americans lives were being to be used as leverage in the ongoing dispute over Iranian nuclear ambitions.

The Wilson Center has this up: more...

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Roy Hallums Gives New Hope to Hostage Families

In November 2006 Joshua Munns, Jonathon Cote, John Young, Bert Nussbaumer, and Paul Reuben were taken hostage near Basra by a group calling itself "The Islamic Mujahedeen Battalion", a group feared to have links to the Iranian goverment. The five worked for the Crescent Security Group, a private firm which guarded civilian convoys.

In January a video was released showing the hostages alive. The five have now been missing 277 days.

Yesterday Roy Hallums, who was held hostage in Iraq for nearly two years, talked in a conference call to four of the families. The fact that Roy was held for so long and yet survived the ordeal gives hope that these men are still alive.

The Columbian:

"A lot of us were reassured by talking with him," said Jackie Stewart, 44, of Brush Prairie, who is the mother of one of the hostages, Joshua Munns, 24, of Redding, Calif. "Roy has been there, and he got out. He's a nice man. We felt less alone and a lot better after talking to him."

The families are working to raise money to support their sons, husbands and brothers when they are released. Hallums told them to go ahead if that makes them feel better, but he said the U.S. government's efforts are key.

He was found, he said, because U.S. agents were able to capture an Iraqi who knew where he was being held....

He said the families of the captured contractors should speak publicly as they wish about the hostages, but only in generalities.

"No amount of cheers on TV is going to get them free," he said. "But the families want to do something, and if they want to, if it makes them feel better, then go ahead and do it. Just don't do anything that is going to hurt the situation."

He wishes the FBI, CIA and state department would tell the families more of what is going on in efforts to free hostages.

He said he trusts the government, which insists on working in secret. He now works as a consultant on terrorism. This week, he was at Fort Lewis, advising troops getting ready to deploy to Iraq.

As always we pray for their safety and demand their immediate and unconditional release.

Friends and families of the hostages have set up several websites on their behalf.

The Missing Warrior Project
Hostage Recovery Team
Save Five!
Free Jonathon Cote
Paul Rubens Website

Related: more...

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Kidnapped German Woman Pleads for Release (UPDATE: Freed! RESCUED!!)

A German aid worker abducted in Kabul yesterday appeared on Afghan television to ask for help in obtaining her freedom. Christina Meier, who said she works for the NGO Ora International, spoke in English and read a statement in Dari (via Reuters):

"I am fine ... I ask my country to urgently help and cooperate for my release," she said in a video aired by private television station Tolo, while displaying an identity card that read Christina Barbara Meier.

The woman, apparently in a small room, introduced herself in English and said she was an employee of "ORA International" aid agency. A man who was not seen in the tape asked her questions in broken English.

A bespectacled young man who had covered his face appeared on the video to say the abductors were not Taliban, adding they belonged to a "special network".

He demanded the release of the group's men held by President Hamid Karzai's government. He did not give any figure or names, adding details would be passed to the government through special channels.

Meier and her husband have worked in Kabul for Ora International since December 2006. She was kidnapped Saturday from a Kabul pizzeria by 4 armed gunmen. Afghan police say they do not think the Taliban is behind this abduction, but do not know who may be.

UPDATE: Thank God: Kidnapped German 'freed in Kabul'

UPDATE II: Officials: Afghan Police Free German Hostage

As pointed out by several astute readers in the comments, Christina was not "freed" by her captors, but RESCUED by the Afghan police, who also arrested her abductors. Thank you to the Jawa readers for pointing out this bit of bias on the part of the BBC, from whom my previous report was taken.

Hallelujah! more...

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More Kidnappings Reported in Afghanistan

The Taliban have been busy today:

Taliban kidnap four engineers in Afghanistan
Gunmen abduct German woman in Kabul

Meanwhile, the 19 S. Koreans and German hostage Rudolf Blechschmidt remain in captivity. Continued prayers for their safe release, as well as for the new hostages.

UPDATE: The German woman kidnapped today has been identified as Christina Meier, who is 5 months pregnant. Fervent prayers for her and her unborn child.

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Trading Celebs for Hostages

Probably the greatest idea. Ever. Just click on Mikey for the details.

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Searching for Robert Levinson

God speed and good luck to Christine Levinson in finding her husband who has been missing in Iran since early March. He was arrested by Iranian police but hasn't been seen since and the Mullahs deny they have him in their custody. Right.

I have a bad feeling about this. The problem with paranoid and brutal regimes is that they're, well, paranoid and brutal. For now, I consider Robert Levinson a hostage.

Sun Sentinal:

The wife of a retired FBI agent who vanished in March while on a business trip in Iran plans to fly to the Middle East to search for her husband.

"I am positive he is alive," Christine Levinson told The Associated Press Thursday at her Coral Springs home. "If he were hospitalized or had been killed, we would have known by now."

Robert A. Levinson, 59, was a highly decorated FBI agent credited with taking down several notorious organized crime and drug lords.

He is a father of seven.

Hat tip: Mrs Abe Froman

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Autopsy Report: German Hostage Died of Gunshot Wounds

No surprise here: German hostage Ruediger Diedrich, kidnapped last week in Wardak province, Afghanistan, was still alive when he was cold-bloodedly gunned down by his Taliban captors. Mr. Diedrich collapsed during a forced march through a desert region, and was shot when he couldn't keep up. There had been questions whether he was already dead from a heart attack or complications of diabetes when his abductors shot him in the knees and back. Via Deutsche Welle:

An autopsy performed on the body of the hostage's colleague, which was found last week and returned to Germany, showed the man had died of gunshot wounds. German officials were previously uncertain whether the 44-year-old was executed or died of the [rest of line is missing].

The mass-circulation Bild am Sonntag said the man had been shot in the knees and back. It quoted German security sources after an autopsy carried out in Cologne on Thursday.

The German Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report and staff at the forensic institution where the autopsy was carried out said further tests were being made before a final report was released, probably in the first week in August. The dead man leaves behind a widow and a school-aged son.

The surviving hostage, 62-year-old Rudolf B., is now in his second week of captivity. His abductors are demanding the release of 10 Taliban prisoners in Afghan custody.

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"A Trail of Broken Lives"

The Washington Post has a front-page article today on the security contractors kidnapped in Iraq last November. The author, Steve Fainaru, who has written extensively on private contractors in Iraq, serves up a scathing indictment of the lax management of the now-defunct Crescent Security Group, which employed the four Americans and 1 Austrian abducted when the convoy they were guarding was ambushed at a fake checkpoint near Basra.

Fainaru says that on the day of the ambush, none of the Iraqi contractors who were supposed to accompany the convoy showed up, but that the company allowed the trip to go forward with only 7 guards. The company says they were unaware of the situation and blamed the kidnapped contractors for "screwing up" the operation:

Former senior managers with Crescent denied any wrongdoing and said the guards who were seized had been well equipped and simply failed to thwart the kidnappers.

"We pretty much catered to them. We spoiled them," said Scott Schneider, the company's former director of security. "You know, basically the operators screwed up," he added. "I mean, you hate to speak ill of people, but the way the situation transpired, they just made mistake after mistake" as the convoy came under attack.

[. . .]

Security experts described the lapses as unconscionable. "It's insane. I don't know how you could sleep," said Cameron Simpson, country operations manager for ArmorGroup International, a British firm that protects one-third of all nonmilitary convoys in Iraq. ArmorGroup normally assigns 20 security contractors to protect no more than 10 tractor-trailers.

Fainaru describes how a month before the ill-fated trip, Crescent Security's entire arsenal of weapons was stolen and sold on the black market. Several employees were fired and were later identified as being in the group that attacked the convoy.

The article also includes excerpts from interviews with the five contractors just two weeks before the ambush, and previously unseen video clips:

Steve Fainaru will be available tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. for a live online Q&A session.

Let's continue to pray for the safe return of John Young, Jon Cote, Josh Munns, Paul Reuben and Bert Nussbaumer.

Crossposted at Not Ready for my Burqua

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A Korean Hostage's Plea for Help

All of the 22 remaining hostages held by the Taliban are sick and in fear of their lives (we know the compassionate treatment the Taliban gives to sick captives).

Via BBC:

The woman, who identified herself as Yo Syun Ju, told an Afghan reporter by telephone all the hostages were sick.

"Tell them to do something to get us released," she said in an interview carried out in the presence of the Taleban militants holding her captive.

A group of 23 Koreans was abducted a week ago. The kidnappers have since killed one of the hostages.

In an interview obtained by the BBC from an Afghan journalist, Ms Yo, who said she was from Seoul, described her situation as "dangerous", adding: "Day by day it is getting very difficult...

"We are all sick and we have a lot of problems."

We need to pray as hard as we can for these hostages, for the strength to endure their ordeal and not to despair. I love the prayer on Rusty's thread; here's another:

O blessed Lord, who thyself didst undergo the pain and suffering of the Cross; Uphold, we beseech thee, with thy promised gift of strength all those of our brethren who are suffering for their faith in thee. Grant that in the midst of all persecutions they may hold fast by this faith, and that from their stedfastness thy Church may grow in grace and we ourselves in perseverance, to the honour of thy Name, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost art one God, world without end. Amen

Anyone who would like to help keep vigil is welcome to post their favorite prayers or Bible verses in the comments.

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Amidst the Confusion, Details Emerge on German Hostages

This has been a difficult story to keep track of, as the known facts keep changing. First the Taliban claimed to have killed both German hostages and all six of the Afghans abducted along with them. The Afghan government denied this claim, saying that one engineer had died of a heart attack and the other was still alive. Then a body, said to be that of hostage Ruediger B., was discovered with gunshot wounds. The official story as of yesterday was that Ruediger, a diabetic, collapsed during a forced march and was shot by his captors to see if he was dead or alive.

Now the German newspaper Spiegel Online is finally putting the pieces of the story together. The dead hostage has been identified as 43-year-old Ruediger Diedrich, an engineer from the northeastern German state of Mecklenberg-Western Pomerania, who went to Afghanistan after the construction company he owned went bankrupt. He was reportedly afraid of going to Afghanistan, but saw it as his only opportunity to repay his debts.

Although his first trip to the country was successful, he became increasingly worried about the security situation in Kabul, where he lived, as violence in the city increased. He told the German broadcaster ZDF in a June 2006 interview of his fears. "I feel very unsafe," he said. "Afghanistan is a powder keg." He only left his house when it was strictly necessary, he said.

However he apparently gradually got used to the violence, and colleagues said he did not show signs of fear. It was perhaps this relaxed attitude that led him to decide to travel to the dangerous Wardak province with Rudolf B.

Rudolf B. is a 62-year-old construction engineer who suffers from diabetes and does not have his insulin with him. German officials say they talked to him by telephone on Sunday and are very concerned about the state of his health.

Speigel speculates that the real target of the kidnapping wasn't the two engineers, but an Afghan businessman, Eshak Noorzai, a member of a powerful family, and whose brother is the deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament. This doesn't seem likely however, as he was the only hostage released so far, and has given the only eyewitness reports of Ruediger Diedrich's death.

Mr. Diedrich's body is being flown to Germany for an autopsy scheduled for Thursday, to determine if he was in fact already dead when he was shot by his captors.

German aerial reconnaissance has determined the location of the hostages and negotiations with tribal elders are continuing. Let's continue to pray for strength and health for Rudolf B. and the remaining Afghan hostages, and for the comfort of Mr. Diedrich's family and friends. more...

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Italian Priest Freed in Philippines

An Italian priest kidnapped by Abu Sayef terrorists on the southern island of Mindanao last month has been released unharmed, but not until after 14 Philippine marines searching for him were killed last week. Via BBC:

Father Bossi said he had been told upon his abduction that his kidnappers were with Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic extremist group known to have ties with al-Qaeda.

But the Philippine military said it believed rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the main Muslim separatist group in the southern Philippines, to be behind the kidnapping.

The priest also said he had been told the purpose of his kidnapping was to extract a ransom.

But Philippine officials insisted no ransom was paid, saying Father Bossi's release was the result of negotiations with the kidnappers.

It appears that for once, neither Abu Sayef nor the MILF is claiming responsibility for the deaths of the 14 Marines, 10 of whom were beheaded. About 300 Abu Sayef militants ambushed a group of about 50 Marines searching for the missing priest.

Father Bossi will be flown home to Italy for a visit with his family, but hopes to return soon to his parish in Zamboanga Sibugay province. He also hopes to visit with the families of the dead Marines. more...

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South Korean Christians Kidnapped in Afghanistan

Eighteen members of a South Korean Presbyterian church on a mission trip to Afghanistan were snatched off the church bus by the Taliban Thursday. The group of 3 men and 15 women were traveling from Kabul to Khandahar when they were attacked by 35-40 armed Taliban who drove the bus into the desert and forced the missionaries to walk for more than an hour to a nearby village.

Taliban spokesman Yousef Ahmadi said the abductees are safe for now.

"The Taliban have kidnapped the South Korean nationals," Ahmadi said from an unknown location. "There are 18 South Koreans - three men and 15 women. "They are with the Taliban now and they are safe and sound. They are under investigation and once the investigation is over, the Taliban leading council will make a final decision about their fate."

Last year about 1200 South Korean Christians were ordered out of Afghanistan because of fears for their safety. A report by the S. Korean foreign ministry detailed plans by the Taliban to kidnap travellers in the Kabul area.

It said the insurgents appeared to be trying to barter the release of one of their top leaders, arrested about a year ago.

"The reason they picked South Koreans as their target is believed to be because South Koreans often travel by land," with the least security measures, the ministry said.

The Taliban are also claiming to have kidnapped two German engineers and 6 Afghan associates, and are demanding the withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan:

Afghan authorities searched on Thursday for two Germans and six Afghans who were abducted in an area southwest of the capital.

The group was travelling in a car when seized on Wednesday in Wardak province, the Interior Ministry said.

The identity of the group and who kidnapped them was not clear. Berlin said on Wednesday that two Germans had gone missing in Afghanistan and its embassy in Kabul and other appropriate authorities were working to find out what had happened.

One German national was kidnapped in western Afghanistan this month, but was released unharmed after few days.

These latest kidnappings follow two high-profile abductions by the Taliban earlier this year. In March Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo and his 2 Afghan colleagues, Sayed Agha and Adjmal Nakshbandi, were kidnapped with demands for the release of Taliban prisoners being held by the Afghan government. Mastrogiacomo was freed after Afghan President Hamid Karzai released 5 Taliban, 3 of whom were later killed with the infamous Mullah Dadullah. Agha was beheaded on video during the abduction, and Nakshbandi was beheaded on Easter Day.

In April French aid workers Eric Damfreville and Celine Cordelier, along with 3 Afghan colleagues, were kidnapped for more than 5 weeks before being freed safely.

UPDATE: Missionaries kidnapped by Taleban warned they face death

The Taleban forbid Christians from entering Afghanistan to convert Muslims, under threat of death. Yesterday Sayed Murard Shrifi, a religious cleric who is head of the public court in Baghlan, said: “In terms of punishment the one who comes to a Muslim country to convert people to their religion must face the strongest punishment. The first choice is death and the second life in prison.”

more...

Posted by: noburqa at 08:37 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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3 Year Old British Hostage Threatened

I'm speechless. BBC:

Kidnappers who seized a three-year-old UK girl in Nigeria have threatened to kill her unless her father agrees to take her place, her mother says....

"The people who are holding her just called again and they were threatening to kill the baby," Oluchi Hill was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

"They accused me of trying to play games with them."

Interestingly, the main group which profits from the hostage racket in Nigeria is the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has agreed to help rescue the girl. Apparently kidnapping adult men is okay for MEND, but women and children are beyond the pale. The group, literally, kidnaps someone new nearly every week.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:36 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Al Qaeda Leader Exchanged for British Hostage?

Is Shiek Abu Qatada, Europe's al Qaeda leader and one-time spiritual mentor to Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid going to be released as part of the deal worked out to free British hostage Alan Johnston? Please God, let this not be true!

WND:

In exchange for the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnston, Britain told the Hamas terror group through mediators it would free from jail an extremist sheik accused of serving as al-Qaida's spiritual adviser in Europe, Palestinian sources involved in the negotiations claimed to WND...

The Palestinian sources involved in the Johnston negotiations claimed the British government pledged through a third-party mediator to release Abu Qatada after six months so the release wouldn't appear connected to Johnston's freedom....

Qatada is wanted on terrorism charges in Algeria, the U.S., Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Jordan.

Nineteen videotapes featuring Qatada's sermons were found among the possessions of 9/11 ringleader Atta. A Paris-based terror cell accused of plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy in France in 2001 reportedly was headed by a follower of Qatada.

A British immigration appeals commission report stated it concluded Qatada was a "key UK figure" in al-Qaida related terror.

Giving in to ransom demands (which is a near certainty in the Alan Johnston case) is bad enough--it only encourages more hostage taking--but this, if true, would be much worse.

The most hopeful sign from the article is that WND's source for the article is a Palestinian. Let's just say there's a track record.

Hat tip to Israel Matzav who has more thoughts and commentary.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:46 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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