View Full Version : Yemen Terrorists Kill 9 Hostages, Including 3 Children
This speaks for itself. Glad Europe is slanting right. Hopefully this will add to the momentum.
9 Foreigners, Including 3 Children, Found Dead in Yemen
Monday, June 15, 2009
Print ShareThisSAN'A, Yemen — A Yemeni security official says six other missing foreigners, including three children, have been found dead, bringing the total number to nine.
The nine foreigners, including seven German nationals, a Briton and a South Korean, disappeared last week while on a picnic in the restive northern Saada region of Yemen.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, announced the discovery of the remaining six bodies Monday after three others were found earlier in the day.
Yemen, the poorest nation in the Middle East, is home to restive tribes, a Shiite rebellion, as well as a division of Al Qaeda which operates in its remote regions and has often targeted foreigners.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526340,00.html
Why the **** would any non terrorist/arab go to YEMEN? :rolleyes:
Smuckatelli
06-15-09, 09:38
Why the **** would any non terrorist/arab go to YEMEN? :rolleyes:
Apparently to go on a picnic.:confused:
It's sad what happened, but no sympathy. Anyone who travels to certain places (Yemen is one of them) to go on vacation or have a picnic is obviously living in a fantasy world. I am fairly certain that Yemen is in the top 10 for dangerous places. That's what we call a CLUE.
Don Robison
06-15-09, 10:16
Why the **** would any non terrorist/arab go to YEMEN? :rolleyes:
It's huge with Germans. A few years ago they were organizing "kidnapping adventure tours" in Yemen where they would arrange for you to be kidnapped, held for ransom and then released all in the name of a vacation. Sounds like they upped the anty to kidnap and kill.
Dave Williams
06-15-09, 10:37
It's sad what happened, but no sympathy. Anyone who travels to certain places (Yemen is one of them) to go on vacation or have a picnic is obviously living in a fantasy world. I am fairly certain that Yemen is in the top 10 for dangerous places. That's what we call a CLUE.
+1 This reminded me of Jeff Cooper fuming over American personnel jogging on the streets of San Salvador.
Dave Williams
John_Wayne777
06-15-09, 10:43
It's huge with Germans. A few years ago they were organizing "kidnapping adventure tours" in Yemen where they would arrange for you to be kidnapped, held for ransom and then released all in the name of a vacation. Sounds like they upped the anty to kidnap and kill.
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.
It's sad what happened, but no sympathy. Anyone who travels to certain places (Yemen is one of them) to go on vacation or have a picnic is obviously living in a fantasy world. I am fairly certain that Yemen is in the top 10 for dangerous places. That's what we call a CLUE.
I have tremendous sympathy for the 3 children who were forced to the shithole and were then slaughtered there.
I have tremendous sympathy for the 3 children who were forced to the shithole and were then slaughtered there.
As would I. The responsibility for this stupid decision was with the parents, not the children.
It's huge with Germans. A few years ago they were organizing "kidnapping adventure tours" in Yemen where they would arrange for you to be kidnapped, held for ransom and then released all in the name of a vacation. Sounds like they upped the anty to kidnap and kill.
That sounds like the ultimate form of, what... is "nihilism" the right choice of words? Can you imagine a life of such leisure that you'd resort to doing something like that for fun? UFB! I wonder what Dennis Prager would say about this?
Sad for the children. ( a huge understatement, of course )
Yes, you are correct.
I have tremendous sympathy for the 3 children who were forced to the shithole and were then slaughtered there.
They all seemed to be living their due to their careers. The term picnic can also have a much broader meaning in other countries/cultures than it does in the U.S.
I really don't think they loaded up the family car with a basket full of sandwhiches and took a sunday drive to Yemen.
Interesting update to this story.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,527868,00.html
Slaughter of Foreigners in Yemen Bears Mark of Former Gitmo Detainee, Say Experts
Saturday, June 20, 2009
By Jana Winter
The fate of three of nine foreigners abducted in Yemen last week is known — their bodies were found, shot execution style. The whereabouts of the other six — including three children under the age of 6 — remain a mystery.
But terrorism experts say their abductors and killers are almost certainly not a mystery. They say the crimes bear the mark of Al Qaeda, and they fear they are the handiwork of the international terror organization's No. 2 man in the Arabian Peninsula: Said Ali al-Shihri, an Islamic extremist who once was in American custody — but who was released from the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
And if al-Shihri is behind the gruesome murders and abductions, they say, it raises grave concerns that the scheduled January 2010 closing of the Guantanamo prison and the release of most of its prisoners to foreign countries will galvanize Al Qaeda and compromise American national security.
The nine foreigners — four German adults, three small German children, a British man and a South Korean woman — were abducted on June 12 after they ventured outside the city of Saada without their required police escorts, according to a spokesman from the Yemeni Embassy in Washington. Days later the bodies of Rita Stumpp and Anita Gruenwald, German nurses in training, and Eom Young-sun of South Korea were found shot execution style in the Noshour Valley in the province of Saada, an area known to be a hotbed of Al Qaeda activity.
Stumpp and Gruenwald attended a Bible school, and Young attended a Christian missionary school in South Korea. Other members of the group had ties to missionary organizations, and all six adults worked for World Wide Services Foundation, a Dutch international medical relief group.
No one has claimed responsibility for the abductions and murders, but experts say killing women and children is considered off-limits among many jihadist groups — though not to al-Shihri, a Saudi national who was released from Guantanamo in November 2007 and sent to a Saudi Arabian "rehabilitation" program for jihadists. It wasn't long before a "cured" al-Shihri was released from the program, crossed into Yemen and rejoined Al Qaeda, with whom he quickly rose to deputy commander.
In addition to last week's kidnappings, he is believed to have been behind the September attacks that left 16 dead at the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital of San'a.
“This bears the marks of al-Shihri’s activity and bears the signs of his beliefs and assumptions of his behavior that are not viewed by other jihadists,” said Robert Spencer, terror expert and director of Jihad Watch, referring to the killing of women and presumed killing of the three small children.
Defense officials said that "while there is suspicion that Said Ali al-Shihri is involved in these latest attacks, we can't confirm it."
“There is great presumption of his involvement, but it’s not open and shut,” Spencer said.
“If he believed that these people picnicking in Yemen were aiding in the war against Islam, then he can justify these killings as legitimate — it’s this kind of perspective that this guy holds to, that it’s right to kill people who would normally be considered off-limits,” Spencer said.
“Christians aren’t allowed to proselytize in the Muslim world, and if that’s what was going on here ... well then, there you go.”
Gregory Johnsen, the editor of a forthcoming book, "Islam and Insurgency in Yemen," agreed. “The most likely scenario is that Al Qaeda’s responsible," he said. "And if it does turn out that Al Qaeda is responsible, then it would be that al-Shihri had a hand in the operation whether behind the scenes or up front.”
And that involvement is an ominous sign for critics, who say the release of detainees from Guantanamo, under President Obama's plan to close the detention center by January 2010, could lead to future and more severe terrorist attacks.
The United States is negotiating with Yemen, according to Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for Embassy of the Republic of Yemen in Washington, over the possible transfer of the more than 100 Yemeni nationals currently behind bars in Gitmo.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Committee, opposes closing Gitmo and says Obama is rushing "helter skelter" to find homes for the remaining detainees to meet his "arbitrary deadline," which he says may come at the cost of national security.
“The president’s policies are very very disturbing. He appears to have decided to close Guantanamo without any idea of where these detainees are going to go and is now trying desperately to find countries and places for these people to go,” King told FOXNews.com.
“By far largest number of detainees comes from Yemen, and they are hardcore dangerous people. Sending them back to Yemen, where prisoners who have been held there before somewhere magically escaped from prison, and is in many ways the centerpiece of the Al Qaeda movement — returning them to Yemen is just inviting disaster.
"Sending them to Saudi Arabia to the rehabilitation center is just putting off the inevitable threat to the United States,” King said. “I am very concerned that these prisoners will soon be back in the battlefield hurting Americans.”
montanadave
06-22-09, 08:33
An additional story from the BBC:
Yemen recovers hostages' bodies
Germany has "strongly condemned" the killing of two German nurses who were recently kidnapped in Yemen.
The bodies of the two women, along with that of a South Korean aid worker, have been flown to the capital Sanaa from Saada, a remote area in northern Yemen.
Yemeni officials say they are searching for six other foreigners in the group - including three children - who were kidnapped while picnicking on Friday.
There have been conflicting reports about what has happened to them.
"This is very sad news and we strongly condemn this crime," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in reference to the two German nurses.
They have been presumed dead by German officials although Yemeni authorities have not officially identified the bodies.
"The foreign ministry's crisis centre is trying to investigate the fate of the other hostages. So far there is no concrete information and it is important not to speculate," Mrs Merkel added.
Also on Tuesday, Seoul confirmed that a South Korean national had been murdered after being kidnapped in Yemen. Officials named her as Eom Young-Sun, 34.
A Yemeni government spokesman said on Tuesday that the whereabouts of the other six foreigners was unknown.
The group comprised seven Germans - including a family of five - a British national and a South Korean woman. The kidnapped adults all worked at a hospital in Saada, the state news agency said.
Yemen's interior ministry earlier said they had been kidnapped while on a picnic on Friday in the area.
Shepherds found the three bodies on Monday morning in the mountainous northern Saada province near the town of el-Nashour, according to local officials.
There is confusion about the fate of the missing hostages. One unconfirmed report on Monday said all nine hostages were dead, while another report - also unconfirmed - quoted officials saying two children had been found alive.
Militant groups
More than 200 foreign nationals have been kidnapped in Yemen in the last 15 years, often for ransom. But most have been released unharmed.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
The Yemeni government blamed a local Shia rebel group, led by Abdulmalik al-Houthi, for the kidnapping, but it has denied any involvement.
The group has fought a sporadic insurgency in the Zaidi Shia heartland between Sanaa and the border with Saudi Arabia.
A local tribal leader in the area, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press news agency, blamed al-Qaeda.
Al-Qaeda is known to have operated in the area, and analysts say it may be regrouping in Yemen after coming under pressure in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
CIA Director Leon Panetta said last week that Somalia and Yemen may have become safe havens for the group.
Yemeni authorities said on Sunday they had arrested Hassan Hussein Bin Alwan, described as al-Qaeda's financier in the region and one of its "most dangerous members".
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8100500.stm
Published: 2009/06/16 15:53:17 GMT
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