Iraqi Insurgents Threaten to Kill Foreign Hostages

The New York Times ^

[Happy2BMe]

AGHDAD, Iraq, April 10 — A group of armed Iraqi insurgents, their faces masked, claimed on Saturday to be holding 30 foreigners hostage and threatened to kill them unless the United States halted its offensive in Falluja, the Sunni city west of Baghdad.

In a film from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that was shown repeatedly on Arabic television, a masked man representing the group said: "We have Japanese, Bulgarian, Israeli, American, Spanish and Korean hostages. Their numbers are 30."

He added: "If America doesn't lift its blockade of Falluja, their heads will be cut off."

The tape did not show any hostages, however, and it was not possible to confirm that such a group was being held. But several foreigners are known to be missing, putting intense pressure on Japan and other American allies.

In another tape broadcast on television, a man speaking with an American accent was shown being held in the back seat of a car by a masked gunman. He said his convoy had been attacked, and in the background black smoke blossomed thickly into the air.

The gunmen, their faces covered with Arab head scarves, jumped into the vehicle's seats around him and sped off, one of them saying into the camera: "We swear to God, we are not afraid of death. We are going to heaven."

On Thursday, kidnappers seized three Japanese citizens and threatened to kill them on Sunday if Japan did not withdraw its forces from Iraq.

In Kuwait, an associate of Iraq's leading Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, denounced the kidnapping of the Japanese as a terrorist act and demanded their immediate release, Reuters reported. The associate, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Mohri, said in a sermon at Friday Prayer that was carried by newspapers on Saturday, "This ugly picture hurts Islam and Muslims as it gives a bad impression about our Islamic religion."

Ayatollah Mohri also denounced what he called the chaos in Iraq caused by the followers of an outlawed Shiite cleric, Moktada al-Sadr.

"We condemn the acts of sabotage, chaos and takeover of public property by a group that unfortunately is part of one of Iraq's biggest and best known families," he said.

While the American troops have raided Falluja, a center of anti-Americanism, coalition troops have also been battling Shiite militias in the south. The two-pronged battles represent the most extensive combat since May, when President Bush declared that the major military operations to topple Saddam Hussein had been completed.

On Saturday the United States deputy director for coalition operations, Brig. Gen Mark Kimmitt, called on Sunni militants to honor a cease-fire in Falluja, where some of the worst fighting has taken place. The American forces used attack helicopters, tanks and warplanes against militants firing rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons.

"Today what we are seeking is a bilateral cease-fire on the battlefield so we can allow for discussions," General Kimmitt said in remarks quoted by news agencies.

But sporadic machine-gun fire and explosions could still be heard in Falluja, according to witnesses and news agency reports.

The American military unilaterally suspended operations on Friday. The military said in a statement on Saturday that the coalition forces were "prepared to implement a cease-fire at noon today," adding: "If it holds, talks regarding the re-establishment of legitimate Iraq authority in Falluja will begin. This action is being taken with the expectation that enemy elements in Falluja will also honor the cease-fire."

Iraqi doctors in Falluja have reported hundreds of Iraqis killed during the American offensive. The cease-fire on Friday enabled them to collect the dead and wounded in streets and houses where, they said, ambulances were unable to go.

Shiite militias loyal to Mr. Sadr, the anti-American cleric, have battled coalition troops for control of cities south of Baghdad. Battles have flared in Nasiriya, Kut, Kufa, Najaf and Karbala, as well as in Sadr City, a neighborhood in Baghdad.

Shiites and Sunnis united around Falluja as a rallying point against the occupation, organizing aid convoys for the besieged town and blood donations.

Members of the American-installed Iraqi Governing Council entered the city on Saturday to meet with local leaders.

Leaders of Mr. Sadr's militia said on Saturday that they would not attack American-led coalition forces in Karbala, about 65 miles south of Baghdad, during a Shiite pilgrimage to the city this weekend for the festival of Arbaeen.

Mr. Sadr's militias had tried to seize control of stations and government buildings staffed by Iraqi officials and officers. United States officials have vowed to crush the militia forces, which they number in the thousands.

In Sadr City, American tanks that had been posted outside of police stations were not in place on Saturday. A witness said that earlier in the day, American forces tore down posters showing Mr. Sadr, and ran over them in tanks. On Friday, American soldiers also ripped down his image where it had been plastered on a statue erected in a central Baghdad square to replace one of Saddam Hussein that was toppled last year on April 9.

Militants have said they would respond fiercely if the coalition arrests Mr. Sadr, for whom a warrant has been issued in connection with the murder of another cleric in Najaf in April 2003.

On Saturday, Baghdad was tense and fighting flared in some parts. A tank was set on fire along a highway, witnesses said.

In London, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon offered fresh support on Saturday for American military tactics to put down uprisings among both the Sunnis and Shiites.

"I accept that we have got to do more to sort out the security situation," he said in a radio interview, "but we are not going to do that by sitting back and allowing extremists, terrorists to attack and kill, not only coalition forces but also Iraqis themselves trying to rebuild their own country."

[MeekOneGOP]

Per FOX News, Al-Jazeera and Al-Aribia (sp?) are reporting that the
three Japanese are going to be released within 24 hours. This is
supposedly coming from the terrorists holding them.

We shall see ....

[Happy2BMe]

[Happy2BMe]

It really makes no difference in what retaliatory action we will take.

[Happy2BMe]

The 2nd largest economy perhaps, but their (the Japanes) constitution prevents them from going to war.

[Happy2BMe]

*  *  *

 

 

FROM THE KORAN ITSELF...
"HEIL HITLER" Now Upgraded to "ALLAH AKBAR?"

You may already know about this one: O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. [al-Ma'idah 5:51.11]

But did you know that there are 123 verses in the Quran concerning fighting and killing for the cause of Allah? Here are but a few passages:

-Muslims are encouraged to be wholly occupied (Sura 2:273) with fighting for Allah's cause.

- Allah will give "a far richer recompense to those who fight for him" (Sura 4:96).

- Regarding infidels (unbelievers), they are the Muslim's "inveterate enemies" (Sura 4:101). Muslims are to "arrest them, besiege them and lie in ambush everywhere" (Sura 9:5) for them. They are to "seize them and put them to death wherever you find them, kill them wherever you find them, seek out the enemies of Islam relentlessly" (Sura 4:90). "Fight them until Islam reigns supreme" (Sura 2:193). "Cut off their heads, and cut off the tips of their fingers" (Sura 8:12).

- If a Muslim does not go to war, Allah will kill him (Sura 9:39). He is to be told, "the heat of war is fierce, but more fierce is the heat of Hell-fire" (Sura 9:81).

- A Muslim must "fight for the cause of Allah with the devotion due to him" (Sura 22:78)

- Muslims must make war on the infidels (unbelievers) who live around them (Sura 9:123).

- Muslims are to be "ruthless to unbelievers" (Sura 48:29).

- A Muslim should "enjoy the good things" he has gained by fighting (Sura 8:69).

- A Muslim can kill any person he wishes if it be a "just cause" (Sura 6:152).

- Allah loves those who "fight for his cause" (Sura 61:3).
Anyone who fights against Allah or renounces Islam in favor of another religion shall be "put to death or crucified or have their hands and feet cut off alternative sides" (Sura 5:34).

- Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him. Sahih Al-Bukhari (9:57)

- Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush. (Koran 9:5)

- Take him and fetter him and expose him to hell fire. (Koran 69:30-37)

- I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers, Smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger tips of them. (Koran 8:12)

- They should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides. (Koran 5:33)

- Know that paradise is under the shades of swords. Sahih al-Bukhari Vol 4 p55

And Speaking of Paradise...

"There will be "gushing fountains" and everyone "shall recline on jeweled couches face to face, and there shall wait on them immortal youths with bowls and ewers and a cup of purest wine." Suras (or chapters) 55 and 56 of the Quran.

"Therein are bashful virgins whom neither man nor jinnee will have touched before ... virgins as fair as corals and rubies," sura 55. A few lines later, you might remind them of "virgins chaste and fair ... they shall recline on green cushions and fine carpets."

"The smallest reward for the people of Paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide as the distance from Al-Jabiyyah [a Damascus suburb] to Sana'a.'"

It will be the day, God willing, you spend with the women of paradise...Know that the gardens of paradise are waiting for you in all their beauty, and the women of paradise are waiting, calling out, "Come hither, friend of God."

For much more on "PARADISE... A Better World?" click HERE

.

 

[dennisw]

The bottom one is spiritual HQ for Jihadist Islam and plain old Islam.

[Travis McGee]

[MeekOneGOP]

"We swear to God, we are not afraid of death. We are going to heaven."

Welcome to Heaven, Genius!

[Shooter 2.5]

It's from "We Were Soldiers" (2002).

I have a hard time watching any current war movies. I yelled at the TV all through "Blackhawk Down" and I confess I have never been able to watch "We Were Soldiers". It was on yesterday and the Prayer scene happened to be on. I switched the channel after the prayer.

[MeekOneGOP]

We offer a cease fire and so what are they going to do?

Per FOX News ...

Al-Jazeera reports the terrorists are
threatening to kill an American hostage.

[xzins]

Jeans, blond hair, mustache....not a regular troop. Could be a contracter or a spec/ops guy. Odds are, though, a contracter since he was driving a rig.

I wonder if he's alive because he said his name was HAMIL THOMAS. If that's first name/last name it SOUNDS like it could be islamic. If it's Thomas Hamil, then he was blessed to have said it the other way around.

[Travis McGee]

There's a pic of him on another thread. Sounds like "Thomas Hammel."

[hershey]

Exactly. The terrorists are committing the same atrocities as last week when four American civil contractors died, etc.. What in the world is the problem here? Kill them all until there's no one left to kidnap innocents.

[truth_seeker]

"The 2nd largest economy perhaps, but their (the Japanes) constitution prevents them from going to war."

We probably insisted that prohibition be put in, for good reason at the time.

We could just as easily encourage them to provide important support, in the fight against terrorism. They appear to be doing so.

If they don't call it "war" it isn't prohibited.

In the future, if WWIII develops further, they may have to amend their constitution, to provide for surviving. (They aren't muslims, so they will be under attack---particularly if they don't fight back).

[Shaun_MD]

No. For every hostage that is killed, we drop one nuclear
warhead over a muslim city of our choosing. And dont detonate it above ground. Let the sucker impact.
That's how you stop this nonsense. For every hostage that
dies, we kill 10,000. The only thing these bastards understand is brute force. It's all they respect. Any weakness on our part gets us more trouble. Turn the other
cheek and get that one slapped too. As long as they think they can needle us, this will continue. Our response has to be so total, so complete, and so overwhelmingly brutal,
that any thought of attacking us is horrifying.

[TrueBeliever9]

Like that Claymore and carrying pouch!

[TrueBeliever9]

I have a strong feeling that the ones who are holding the American are Palestinian!

[archy]

Like that Claymore and carrying pouch!

A Claymore bag is just right for carrying two RPK 75-round drums. It helps if the shoulder strapm is padded a little bit with some foam rubber and speed tape; those suckers are heavy. For about 7.5 seconds.

[Happy2BMe]

Palestinian captors? What makes you think that?

[TrueBeliever9]

I read their name - what they are calling themselves - which is basically the revengers for Yassin! We know that Palestinians are in Fallujah fighting with the other terrorists!