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Posted on 05/31/2004 9:00:49 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, May 31 (Reuters) - A Christian Arab who was held captive by al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia said on Monday he lied to them about his faith and praised their battle against the West, to save his life.
Nizar Hajazeen, a Jordanian software businessmen who was at the Tower hotel in the Oasis compound during the 25-hour drama in Khobar, said the militants lectured him about Islam and their aim to liberate Saudi Arabia from "infidels and crusaders".
The complex where the militants held about 50 foreigners -- including some Westerners -- was their last target in the violence in the eastern Saudi oil city in which they killed at least 22 people.
Hajazeen, 32, had tried to call a cab to go to work on Saturday but the phone lines were jumbled.
"I went down and the Filipino receptionist told me there were terrorists in the compound and gunshots were heard," he told Reuters.
He tried to help security guards close the hotel entrance gate but the lock did not work and a manager recommended he hide, Hajazeen said.
"I went to the room of a Jordanian colleague. Someone banged violently on the door. We opened and there were two men, one with a machinegun, another with a revolver. They were wearing black track suits," he said, adding that one had a wounded arm.
Both were in their twenties.
"They asked us if we were Arab or Westerners. We told them: 'We're Arab'.
"One then asked if I was a Christian or a Muslim. I told him we were Muslims and showed him my colleague's Koran as proof. I told him we supported them and that we were against America and Europe. I had to say that."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
Residents of the compound said the attackers asked everyone they encountered if they were Muslim or Christian, before taking them hostage or killing them.
An Oasis manager said the gunmen shot and killed several Westerners as soon as they entered the complex.
The gunmen made two Indian hotel staff with master keys show them where the Westerners were, Hajazeen said.
His brother called him on his mobile phone to wish him a happy birthday -- a day late -- just as the militants were saying their motive was to drive Americans and Christians from their country.
"They asked me to turn off my mobile but did not take it away as they did with others," Hajazeen said, adding that they told him and his colleague to stay in the room and left.
"We stayed locked in our room. One of us was hiding in the shower, another one was hiding in the bathtub," Hajazeen said, adding that from time to time they sneaked back into the bedroom to watch the news on television.
He said that before commandos freed them on Sunday, compound security guards called his mobile to ask him to check if the militants had rigged his floor with explosives. He found nothing.
"Before the commandos came, there was heavy gunfire and one explosion shook the hotel. We could hear glass being smashed, screams... It sounded like someone was giving out orders."
Saudi security forces later called them out, saying: "Do not be scared."
Making his way to freedom he saw the bodies of four Indians and an Italian cook.
"They had been shot dead. Some were on the staircases."
Don't know if this has been addressed elsewhere, but, are foreigners allowed to arm themselves in Saudi Arabia?
You didn't answer my question. When did Christ say them?
With something like that you could say nothing --- but would you lie for an adulterer?
Oh please. He said them while giving John the vision of the end times. Are you saying that they are not applicable to man now? If so then the promises He spoke in the verses prior to that are not for you and I.
It is not a lie to simply say nothing, or to not tell someone for whom the information is not their business that you know nothing.
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These are John's words, given in light of his discipleship with Jesus.
I'm not a Scriptural literalist, so we're not likely to see eye-to-eye on some of these interpretations.
And anyhow you wouldn't likely know for sure that someone is committing adultery -- it would just be spreading speculation that could destroy a marriage so you would just tell the curious one it wasn't their business. I would not be able to lie to protect an adulterer either.
That's different than denying you believe in God though. I'm not exactly judging the man --- who knows what any of us would do with a knife to our throats --- but what is the best Christian thing to do? Considering that Jesus accepted a crucifixion for sins that weren't even his, what is the path we should follow?
That would negate the book of life, and the method of salvation would it not?
Thank you so much!
This is an interesting quote concerning those that deny Jesus.
These are John's words?? Um, how do you figure that? John was not saying that he was the Alpha and Omega in the verse prior to that. Jesus was. These were the words of Christ.
I think so. We've had it very comfortable up till now. It hasn't been difficult to be a Christian, we haven't had the issue of martyrdom up until very recent years. It's like those Christians being thrown in with the lions --- we thought all that was ancient history and that dying for your faith was something of the distant past.
There won't be so many Christians when it becomes difficult.
I apologize, that was the wrong verse.
It is. It also has nothing to do with our conversation here.
I just find it astounding that so many armchair Christians will sit in judgment of men who were on the verge of getting their throats cut.
Thus the great falling away????
He can still repent. Saint Peter did.
Jesus was God.
I apologized in a following post for posting the wrong verse. However, if one denies their faith are they not essentially denying Jesus? Just something that I am wondering. I am not saying anything about this man. I don't know the state of his soul. I am not God. I must admit though, my own interpetation of scripture would lead ME to believe that what he did was wrong. Like I have said, I pray for the courage and grace to stand firm in my own faith if ever tried such as he.
Yes -- many of us are Christians (armchair or otherwise) because for a while it might have been almost cool to be one, put a knife to our throats and you might convert us into just about anything.
Deep down do you think Jesus was honored by this man quickly grabbing the Koran and claiming he was following allah and mohammed instead of the true God?
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