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."
We are getting hit with some pretty hard rocks, here, Doc! I never did like someone putting words in my mouth. A lot of posters read this and without bothering to go back to see if we really said that, they don't. And we are left to look like the egg heads here. 
Peter, faced with the fact of the resurrected Christ, did not care about the threats of the earthly authorities and faced imprisonment and excecution more than once, ultimately being martyred because he would not deny his Lord.
The disillusioned Peter who saw his rabbi railroaded and executed, and had no idea that his grave would be empty a few days later, is no example for Christians to emulate.
I wouldn't automatically consign anyone to hell for lying about his faith, but Christian persecution under Islamic rule isn't terribly different from Christian persecution under Roman rule, and one of the great early controversies of the Church was over how to deal with the tratidores who denied the faith to save their necks.
Read your Bible.
I understand; I just think we are forgetting who really sinned, here - the story is told of brutal murderers, and yet we are only debating the actions of a man who feared them.
So it goes with America; while condemning those who respond to evil inappropriately, we ignore or even praise the original evil which spawned such acts.
Murderers tortured and killed Christians. I will save my outrage for the murderers...
King David paid some terrible earthly consquences for his sin. It was not a pretty sight.
So is there still anyone around who doesn't realize all this IS about Islam?
Oh, I don't bellieve I said that, did I?
"But then, you must not be a Christian, or else you'd understand."
The above it what you said, looks like you said it to me.
My apologies, I thought I was dealing with someone capable of basic reading comprehension.
Oh, good. We've got God's deputy here to straighten this whole thing out. Glad that somebody around here speaks for God.
"Listen! All those here will be tested. Do not believe for a minute that your fate lies within you. Rather, it lies in the hands of a loving and just God - the very God who shall give us a chance to right the wrongs we ourselves have inflicted upon others and Him."
You are correct in saying that we all will be tested. You are not correct in saying that everybody will be given a chance to "right the wrongs" we have done.
God does not relieve us of the consequences of our sin no matter how we may wish it. God offers us repentance and an Intercessor and a way to wash our sins away and make us Christlike.
So he is guilty of the sin of lying. But if in his HEART he is a follower, he is still saved.
Let's look at the counter position: what if a Christian gang of thugs were asking atheists, at the point of a gun, if they were Christians. If the atheist lies and says yes, is that atheist saved? I think not.
I can read, but it appears that you have trouble getting your brain to think.
Absolute nonsense.
This is nutty.
One more time. I've already addressed this.
Apparently your ability to read only extends to what you wished you saw on the page rather than what was actually there. I didn't consign anyone to hell as you accused, and in fact I disclaimed the ability.
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