For those of you paying really close attention you will know this is last week's news. But I didn't get the video until today, so I thought I'd pass it along to those that hadn't heard about it. A group calling itself the Badr Brigade released this video last week of a 'CIA agent' they had 'captured' in Malta. But this one was allegedly debunked by OSINT and SITE as really another case of a doll being taken hostage. Chad also reported the erroneous story here.

Here is the problem with the debunking: a) Polish Expert of OSINT told me in an e-mail that he hadn't seen the video. His report was just a link to an AKI story that made the claim it was a hoax. The AKI story seems to have just been a report on what SITE had written. Now, SITE has changed their entry deleting the part that this was a doll. b) the 'CIA agent' moves in the video!! Now, I understand special effects, but how can this be a doll? Watch the video yourself. I asked Vlad of Infovlad to find it for me and he did. He has the video here for your downloading pleasure. I have still images from the video below and right.

This might very well be a hoax, but it is definitely not a doll as earlier reports indicated.

What do we know about the Badr Brigades? Not much. There is a group in Iraq that calls itself the Badr brigades, but which is more of an armed militia front for the Shia Islamist party. The group has been blamed for the murder of several Sunni clerics. It is not likely that the group who claims they are holding the 'CIA agent' are related to the group in Iraq given the close alliance that has formed between the ruling Shias and the US.

The name of the group, though, suggests Shia militism with ties to Iran. If that is the case, then big worries are headed for Europe. The largest source of militancy Europe has had with its Muslim minorities has been with Salaafist Sunni groups with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Wahabbi mosques, or even al Qaeda.

Maltamedia:

militant Islamist Group has claimed that it has kidnapped an American CIA secret agent carrying a Maltese passport, adnki.com reports.

Maltese authorities and police immediately carried out investigations about the hostage named Hajya Khalil. The police confirmed that the name was not found registered on Maltese passport and identity card lists. Several international news agencies are reporting that the man is not a Maltese citizen, as it was being stated.

According to the group which calls itself Badr Brigades, the hostage is suspected to have passed secret information to ‘the enemy’ regarding Islamist militant movements in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Badr Brigades also stated that the man was arrested in a European country and will be killed without negotiations.

SITE:

The Badr Brigades claim to have kidnapped a Maltese citizen named Hajya Khalil whom they assert passed information to “the enemy” about the movements and whereabouts of mujahideen in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The group says they “arrested” him in a unnamed European country. The group says he will be killed without any negotiations:

“As we were attacked, we will respond, in the same language of force: we stand and declare to all that we will not negotiate over this hostage in any way. His lot will be in the hands of our brother Mujahideen in the Country of the Two Rivers [Iraq] or in the Country of the Two Mosques [Saudi Arabia]. He will be transferred to them, together with his briefcase, whereupon he will be slaughtered, as sheep are slaughtered.”

The group posted a short video of the captive which shows him in front of the groupÂ’s banner on the floor holding what appear to be identity papers.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:27 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment
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