Aryan

Freed Pakistan Hostage Says Three Beheaded in Iraq
Sat Jul 10, 2004 08:24 AM ET



ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A Pakistani man freed from captivity in Iraq last week said Saturday he saw his captors behead three hostages -- two Americans and an Iraqi -- while he was being held.
His account could not be independently confirmed and there have been no recent reports of two Americans and an Iraqi being abducted. Previously, militants have been quick to announce the taking of hostages, usually releasing videotapes showing armed, masked men standing threateningly over the captives.

Amjad Hafeez, a driver working for a U.S. contractor, was taken hostage on June 25 as he returned from work north of Baghdad. He was blindfolded and taken to a nearby house.

Four days into his captivity, Hafeez said he was able to see one of his captors cut the heads off three other hostages.

"The faces of all three were covered with white cloths," Hafeez told Reuters, a day after returning to Pakistan following his July 2 release.

"One of them was crying 'please, please' ... but they beheaded him. The two others did not speak," he said by telephone from Rawalpindi.

"The kidnappers shouted Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) thrice before beheading each of them in turn."

Hafeez said his captors told him two of the hostages were American and one was an Iraqi soldier.

Kidnappers are currently holding two Bulgarians and a Filipino, all drivers working in Iraq, and have threatened to behead them if their demands are not met.

Two hostages have previously been beheaded in Iraq -- Nicholas Berg, an American who was looking for contracting work, and a South Korean translator, Kim Sun-il.

In both those cases, the threat of beheading was widely publicized by the attackers, who claimed to be working with Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who Washington says is closely allied with Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

It was unclear why Hafeez's captors would behead any hostages without first threatening to do so or would then fail to publicize the fact they had done so. It was also unclear what group, if any, Hafeez's captors belonged to.

Hafeez, 25, said he had been terrified. "When I saw it, I was so scared that you can't imagine. I still feel scared," he said. "They had threatened that they would behead me like that."

The kidnappers had threatened to kill him if Iraqi prisoners were not freed. Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-declared "war on terror," said at the time it would not bow to the demand.

The driver said he thought he was released because he prayed regularly, showing himself to be a devout Muslim, and because of an impassioned plea by his mother.

"They mistook me as a CIA agent but when I offered prayers they softened their attitude. They told me they were freeing me because of my mother," he said.

Ray

Disgusting to say the least.

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smilingassassin

Not as disgusting as what will happen if these monsters get caught by U.S. marines....

Confed999

If it's all true, glad he got out ok.

__________________
No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

Ray

He claims that because he was a Moslem he was freed. Well, am glad that his religion saved him from a gruesome death.

These guys must be out of work butchers!

smilingassassin

We could also beleave the other side of the coin, he could be a simpathetic muslim, he could be saying this just to boost the terrorist cause.

visioninthedark

I wouldn't say that .... he just comes from a simple village family and folk like that don't really involve themselves in politics and all ...

you know ..... like those farmers in the midwest and all ...

besides ... watching him give his account on TV and understanding the language he spoke helps you form a clear impression of whether the guy is making it up or whether he is genuine ...

I saw him and understand his language ... I am sure .... he's genuine ...

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smilingassassin

I often wonder if all these hostages are shipped off to some undisclosed terrorist hideout like a makeshift jail.

Aryan

They still tortured him and slashed his arms with a knife. Okay maybe they didn't kill him, but they didn't exactly give him the islamic treatment.

smilingassassin

"Hafeez, 25, said he had been terrified. "When I saw it, I was so scared that you can't imagine. I still feel scared," he said. "They had threatened that they would behead me like that."

If you've ever watched any of these video's I think you'll agree with him. This act is truly sick and I hope they find the bastards.