* Again, where is Sherifa Zuhur when you need her? Couldn’t we get her to straighten these misguided Muslims kidnappers out?  Don’t they know that kidnapping and abduction is un-Islamic? 

                        

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.

Jawa Report

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 Ùˆ النصارى Ùˆ المرتدين صولتهم على الإسلام Ùˆ 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 …

Ùˆ في الوقت الذي يُسوق فيه أبناء فرنسا Ùˆ 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.