Canadian woman's captors say tomorrow's deadline final

Beverly Giesbrecht, a.k.a. Khadija Abdul Qahaar

Saturday, April 04

MIRAMSHAH/PESHAWAR: Taliban militants holding the Canadian woman Khadija Abdul Qahaar in North Waziristan tribal region on Friday circulated a pamphlet threatening to kill her if their demand for ransom was not met by tomorrow (Sunday).

The militants had earlier set March 31 deadline while demanding 2 million dollars ransom. Subsequently, they extended the deadline to April 3. Now they have warned that the new deadline of April 5 is final.

In a hand-written pamphlet, circulated in parts of North Waziristan by an unknown organisation “Gumnam Mujahideen-e-Islam,” (Anonymous fighters for Islam), the militants alleged the Canadian woman was not a journalist but was sent by the government of Canada to spy on the Taliban in North Waziristan.

“We once again ask the Pakistan and Canadian governments to accept our demands by April 5, or else we will kill Khadija Abdul Qahaar because she is not a journalist and came to Pakistan on a mission to spy for the Canadian government. Under the Islamic laws, her punishment is death. Until now, not a single official of the Pakistan and Canadian governments has approached us. April 5 is the final deadline,” said the pamphlet made available to The News.

It may be mentioned here that the Canadian government has reportedly refused to negotiate with the kidnappers or pay ransom. Paying ransom is said to be against the policy of Canada. In a letter, the Canadian government pledged to send its own security personnel to help the Pakistani law-enforcement agencies’ efforts for the recovery of the aged woman journalist and her two Pakistani helpers. Interestingly, the Taliban accused her of being a Canadian spy and threatened to kill her if their demands were not met before expiry of the deadline.

However, despite being charged as a Canadian spy, the Taliban were ready to set her free if they were paid two million dollars. Sources close to militants in North Waziristan said the militants extended their deadline on appeals from local journalists and tribal elders. Also, there were reports that a delegation comprising local Ulema and pro-government tribal elders was sent to the Taliban commanders by the government to request them not to kill the hostage. The sources said the militants had been frustrated with cold response of the Pakistan and Canadian governments and their reluctance to pay such a huge ransom for her release.

Source: The News International
H/T: Weasel Zippers

Tribal elders negotiating for release of CanadianThe matter will be settled, but secretly, source says

By Rehmat Mehsud

BANNU, PAKISTAN - Elders in Pakistan's lawless tribal region are negotiating with Taliban militants for the release of a Canadian woman threatened with beheading, according to a tribesman in the region.

“Two tribal elders are in talks between the local government and the Taliban,” local tribesman Amer Jan said by telephone from the rugged area.

The news comes a day after The Globe and Mail received a video of Beverly Giesbrecht, 52, pleading with authorities in Canada and Pakistan to do something to save her life, saying her captors have told her they will cut off her head if their demands aren't met by March 31. They have asked for $375,000 (U.S.) for her release.

“The matter will be settled, but secretly,” Mr. Jan said.

When contacted, one of the elders involved in negotiations asked that their identity not be revealed, and said they are not authorized to talk until a deal has been reached. But he did acknowledge that he was shuttling between the parties involved.

Neither Pakistani authorities nor the Canadian embassy responded to requests for comment on the news of the negotiations.

Ms. Giesbrecht, who is also known as Khadija Abdul Qahaar, has been a captive for four months. Read more ...

Sources: MSNBC, Andrew Bolt, Globe and Mail
H/T: Gramfan

Khadija Abdul Qahaar
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Taliban threatens to behead founder of jihadist website

To be bitten by the dog she fed? Ain't karma a bitch?

By Rehmat Mehsud and Tu Thanh Ha

BANNU, PAKISTAN and TORONTO - A Canadian held hostage after she travelled to the lawless tribal belt of northern Pakistan says the Taliban will behead her by the end of the month if a ransom isn't paid.

In a new video provided to The Globe and Mail, Beverly Giesbrecht expresses fear for her life if her captors aren't paid.

“I have been advised and asked to make this video. We have very short time now and I am going to be killed, as you can see,” she says, gesturing at the dagger on the wall behind her, pointed at her head.

She alluded to Piotr Stanczak, a kidnapped Polish engineer who was executed by militants last month, the first killing of a Western hostage in Pakistan since U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

In the video, Canadian Beverley Giesbrecht gestures to the dagger pointed toward her head as a sign she is going to be killed.

“I am going to be beheaded just like the Polish engineer, probably by the end of the month. The deadline is by the end of March, and that's basically, I don't know, 18 days or 16 days,” she says, closing her eyes. Read more ...

Source: Globe and Mail
H/T: Jihad Watch


Beverly Giesbrecht, a.k.a. Khadija Abdul Qahaar
Latest recipient of the Evil Dumbass Award

Taliban Wants $375,000 For Kidnapped Canadian Taliban Supporter

Beverly Giesbrecht, a.k.a.
Khadija Abdul Qahaar

Canadian Beverly Giesbrecht aka Khadija Abdul Qahaar ran the pro-terrorist "Jihad Unspun" website. She's scum of the earth, tough shite she was kidnapped.

Apparently the Taliban have tired of her and want money to get her off their hands or something like that. She so loves terrorists.

By Rehmat Meshud & Mark Hume

BANNU, PAKISTAN and VANCOUVER - Taliban insurgents active in Pakistan's lawless tribal region have offered to free a Canadian woman held since November in return for a $375,000 (U.S.) ransom.

The demand came in an interview near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border with Qari, a man who preferred to identify himself only by his first name.

Qari says he's a close aide of Gul Bahadur, the Taliban head in the volatile North Waziristan region who is alleged to be responsible for the kidnapping of Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who was in the area working as a freelance journalist. Read more ...

Source: Globe and Mail
H/T: The Jawa Report
Khadija Abdul Qahaar
Latest recipients of the Evil Dumbass Award

Taliban Demand $1.5 Million for Canadian Female Muslim Convert who Runs the Pro-al-Qaeda Website, Jihad Unspun

Beverly Giesbrecht, a.k.a.
Khadija Abdul Qahaar

Kidnappers of a Vancouver web publisher are demanding a $1.5 million ransom and the release of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan, according to a Pakistani newspaper.

The News International, an English-language Pakistani newspaper, quoting non-government sources, said along with the money, the hostage-takers are calling for the release of their colleagues from the U.S. prison in Bagram in exchange for the freedom of Khadija Abdul Qahaar.

Bagram holds what the U.S. military claims are captured Taliban fighters.

Citing privacy concerns, Canadian foreign affairs officials will not say who they believe abducted Qahaar or anything about their demands. Up until now, there has been little information about her fate.

Qahaar, 52, was kidnapped two months ago while shooting a documentary on the Taliban in Pakistan's violent Bannu district. A convert to Islam, she had said she wanted to show the human face of the Taliban.

But on Nov. 11, as her shoot was winding down, she was abducted by armed men.

Qahaar was a Vancouver businesswoman involved in internet publishing who used to go by the name of Beverly Giesbrecht. But she became outraged after the launch of the War on Terror, converted to Islam and founded a pro-Islamist web magazine named Jihad Unspun.

Glen Cooper, a friend and former business associate of Qahaar's, said he was relieved to find out she's still alive, but worried about her health.

"She has a problem with her back and her eyes have been giving her problems over the past few years," Cooper said.

Source: CBC News
H/T: Weasel ZippersKhadija Abdul Qahaar
Latest recipient of the Evil Dumbass Award

2008 Evil Dumbass Awards

First Place (2 points):
Safia Z. Jilani

Second Place (1 point):
Ali Nazar / Combatant Clergy Society / Jasser Kadikh / Khadija Abdul Qahaar / Muhammad al-Arir / Muthathar al Zaidi / Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party

Source: Muslims Against Sharia Blog

Canadian Muslim Convert who Runs the al-Qaeda Propaganda Website "Jihad Unspun" Kidnapped in Pakistan

A West Vancouver, B.C. journalist has reportedly been kidnapped in a tribal area of northern Pakistan.

Beverly Giesbrecht, a Web magazine publisher in British Columbia who adopted the name Khadija Abdul Qahaar after converting to Islam after 9/11, was seized at gunpoint on Tuesday while gathering material for an upcoming documentary in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan.

An English language Pakistani newspaper reported the incident Wednesday, saying the journalist and her translator were seized by armed men, and police were combing the area to locate her.

Lisa Monette, spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, would not confirm the report, but did say a Canadian is missing in Pakistan.

On an Oct. 22 posting to her publication's website, Jihad Unspun, Qahaar appealed to her contributors for money to help her secure a visa to exit Pakistan, citing kidnapping fears. Read more ...

Source: CTV
H/T: Weasel ZippersKhadija Abdul Qahaar
Latest recipient of the Evil Dumbass Award