Ottawa, Canada, March 20, 2009 – A Canadian woman being held hostage in northern Pakistan says her captors are planning to behead her at the end of the month if a $2-million ransom is not paid.
In a video provided to the Globe and Mail and posted on the newspaper’s website, a pale and haggard-looking Khadija Abdul Qahaar, 52, begins to cry as she says her “time is very short and my life is going to end.
“I’m going to be killed, as you can see,” Qahaar says on the video, pointing at a long knife hanging behind her.
“I’m going to be beheaded just like the Polish engineer, probably by the end of the month. The deadline is by the end of March.”
Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak was beheaded by a Pakistani Taliban group on Feb. 7, 2009.
In a shaky voice, Qahaar said she’s being held by the Taliban “someplace near the Afghan border in either Pakistan or Afghanistan. I’m not quite sure where I am.”
“A previous video has been made and distributed to my embassy, the Pakistan government, to various different NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and groups in order to try to get the demands that they’re making met.
“Unfortunately nothing has happened.”
The former West Vancouver resident was kidnapped in November along with three guides while travelling to record video.
Qahaar, who changed her name from Beverly Giesbrecht after converting to Islam in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is the owner and publisher of a controversial pro-Islamic web magazine called Jihad Unspun, which is registered to a West Vancouver address.
Qahaar’s website was criticized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, which flagged it as "a Canadian pro-terrorist website."
Lisa Monette, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs, told Canwest News Service Thursday night that officials were “aware of this video, but we have no further comment.”
Shortly after the tape was released, the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression said those holding Qahaar were demanding a ransom of $2 million.
“It is apparent that the kidnappers are increasing the pressure to get ransom money for her release,” said group president Arnold Amber in a release.
Qahaar had been visiting the tribal regions of Pakistan near the Afghan border, collecting material for a documentary for the Al-Jazeera network at the time of her kidnapping, the group said in a statement.
The group said it’s “extremely concerned by the lack of progress in both this kidnapping case, and the Somali case in which Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian journalist Nigel Brennan remain in captivity after almost seven months.”
Jihad Unspun, which has been publishing Mideast news since 2002, posted a note on its website.
“With almost no resources, this tiny but remarkable woman raised the bar for courageous reporting,” it says. “She knew that her integrity would be attacked by both sides.
“Her primary goal is independent journalism that provides an alternate voice to Western media. She was aware of the risks involved in her latest journey, but had faith in those who were supposed to protect her.”
Source: Ottawa Citizen, Mar 20, 2009

 

Home | Contact us | Links | Archives | Search