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."
~whew! All I did was tell DocRock the same thought crossed my mind when I read the thread. LOL!
It started a fire storm, for goodness sake! hehe!
Peter would have told the Moslem murdering hordes that he was a chocolate covered twinkie if it meant he would live to witness another day. To deny Christ means to deny the teachings and truth that is Christ.
God knows what is in store in this unholy war of demonic Islam and righteous belief in the one true God. When faced with certain death, to have given the Moslem hurderers the "ammunition" to kill a Christian would have been akin to committing suicide. Something God does not condone. It was not weakness the Jordanian displayed. It was guile and cunning in the face of death. His choice to live was Godly and allows him to live on, to witness in the most corrupt and blasphemous region on Earth.
Remember what Jesus told the harlot. "Go and sin no more."
I've always been taught that "repentance" means "changing your ways."
It may be the Right Thing to Do to right whatever wrongs you have committed (that's part of asking for forgiveness), but it is not repentance the way I understand it.
Yes, but more so because we believe and follow Scripture! You are right. :-)
As the Gospels say in more than one place, neither Peter nor the rest of the disciples really got the message until after the resurrection. Hindsight being 20/20 and all.
Christians presently in free countries do not meet in catacombs.
Whoever said that Saudi Arabia was a free country?
If you want to attack someone, why don't you try being brave enough to start your own argument instead of jumping in and siding with someone else.
You said I lied. I did not.
If you have faith works will follow...the importance of works is that they are demonstrative of having faith...and not a means to salvation by themselves or for that matter can anything that originates in man possibly make him worthy of salvation apart from Jesus Christ...the author and finisher of our faith..
Jesus plus nothing (of man) = salvation
Faith without works is dead...and without faith it is impossible to please Him....
Jesus did say that those 'who do my Father's will' are my brothers and sisters and mother indeed...He also said that God desires obedience rather than sacrifice..
It is God who in the personage of Jesus Christ works out deeds within our lives...then and only then are these acts of faith acceptable 'proof' of faith...but they are not an end in themselves or ever originating in us a means through which we 'earn' any single part of salvation...(or points redeemable for Heavenly merchandise in the after life)...
imo
It started a fire storm, for goodness sake! hehe!
A lot of pent up energy in here. We're gonna need every ounce to defeat the forces of darkness, the Demoncrats in Nov. LOL!
I don't know if you're trying to act confused on purpose, but that is from the OT. Never said you said that. Used it as an example of G-d's mercy to us.
So are you saying that lying was the only option he had?
" It's not as if he's out of danger now."
I never said he was.
Add me to that list . . .
The only difference would be from our perspective, not God's. From God's perspective, the crucifixion and resurrection was a done deal. He is not constrained by the boundaries of time and space as we are. And the difference from our perspective would have no effect on this man's ability to be forgiven.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Heb. 13:8)
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev. 13:8)
This man will certainly have to live in constant fear the rest of his life --- he claimed to be a Muslim and I think that's all it takes to be one -- he can never unclaim to be one --- or they will come after him. He lives with a death penalty on him.
It's shocking I tell you, just shocking.
I'll concede there, if that's what you believed I was implying. My apologies.
Isn't there a passage somewhere that deals with a human who deigns to fully understand and know the actions and designs of the God?
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