February 18, 2005
Iraqi Born Swedish Man Threatened With Beheading on Video (Images)
A new video has been released of a Christian Iraqi who had returned to Iraq, from which he had fled to Sweden in 1984, to run for pollitical office. He is a naturalized Swedish citizen. Minas al-Yusifi is the leader of the Christain Democratic party in Iraq and was taken hostage in Northern Iraq three weeks ago by a group calling itself Martyr al-Isawy Brigades.
The group has threatened to behead al-Yusifi if any security forces were contacted by the family, have demanded ransom, and that US forces be replaced by UN forces.
UPDATE: The video may be downloaded from the Expressen, a Swedish news service here. The video runs about two minutes and is in Arabic. Although fairly low-quality, Mr. al-Yusifi can be seen visibly flinching and recoiling from his captors rifle.
From Local, a Swedish source:
A video of the Swede who was kidnapped in Iraq three weeks ago was released by his captors on Thursday. With a machine gun to his head, Minas Ibrahim al-Yousifi appealed to the international community to help free him.
"I beg everyone to do their utmost to free me," he said on the film, which lasted for just over two minutes....
"I appeal to His Majesty Carl XVI Gustav, Sweden's king, and Queen Silvia, Pope John Paul, the international federation of Christian parties, the Muslim clerics in Iraq and Iraq's constitutional assembly to work for my freedom," he said.
On Saturday Mr al-Yousifi made a telephone call to his family in which he explained the kidnappers' demands. According to Expressen, they have requested around 28 million crowns and for US troops to be replaced by UN troops in the Iraq.
Developing......
Posted by: Rusty at
10:13 AM
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OT: But this Gannon/Guckert thing is totally getting out of hand:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHITE HOUSE SCRAMBLES TO EXPLAIN
FAKE REPORTER IN ITS PRESS CORPS
Feb.17, 2005 -Internet researchers have uncovered new evidence that contradicts the Bush Administration's claims about James Guckert, a Republican activist allegedly involved in criminal activities and linked to an incident involving a major breach of national security. Guckert, operating as "Jeff Gannon," was granted daily access to White House press briefings for more than two years as a "reporter" for Talon News.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan stated that Guckert was granted access in part because he was affiliated with a news organization that "publishes regularly." But yesterday, bloggers discovered video footage suggesting this standard was not applied to Guckert. Video footage of a Feb. 28, 2003 White House press briefing shows Guckert, apparently unaffiliated with any news organization, asking former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer a question. It is unclear why Guckert was granted any pass at this time, since the Internet-based Talon News did not register its domain name until March 29, 2003.
Maureen Dowd, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times, reported today she was denied press credentials at the start of the Bush administration in 2001. Yet Guckert, whose only journalistic training was derived from a $50 weekend seminar, was repeatedly granted access.
Despite calls from Congress for the White House to disclose its standards for entrance to the briefing room, the Bush administration has yet to reveal its credentialing standards or details surrounding the scandal, including: specific dates when Guckert was admitted to the briefing room, how many passes he was issued, as well as how he cleared a Secret Service background check while owing the state of Delaware over $20,000 in back taxes (penalties and interest) and possibly engaging in prostitution, as revealed by Americablog.org.
Guckert has also been implicated in a leak of federal classified information that revealed the identity of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame. Revealing the identity of an undercover agent is a federal crime.
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has insisted that President Bush will do anything he can to assist the Plame investigation. But the White House has not answered questions about the role of Guckert in the Plame investigation or his inexplicable access to White House Press Corps briefings.
Posted by: Heiny at February 18, 2005 11:22 AM (ELnLC)
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Press release from who? The Democratic Underground??
Posted by: Rusty Shackleford at February 18, 2005 11:37 AM (JQjhA)
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Heiny,
even if everything in your DU press release is true, so?
Is the problem that he didn't go to the right school, or is it because he owed back taxes? Or because he was making money on the side selling smut? Or that he wasn't a flaming Liberal?
I'm scratching my head trying to find the scandal here.
Posted by: Carlos at February 18, 2005 04:09 PM (8e/V4)
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I hope that they don't put underwear on his head, you know, like those nasty Amreicans did.
Posted by: Steven J. Kelso Sr. at February 18, 2005 05:42 PM (U4SDZ)
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