Crooked in Canada

It took the “kidnappers” of Khadija Abdul Qahaar (Canadian wannabe journalist Beverly Giesbrecht) long enough, but apparently they have demanded a  $150,000 ransom, and the release of their colleagues from the Bagram jail in Aghanistan in exchange Qahaar.

Giesbrecht, a woman who converted to Islam to show her support for the 9/11 attackers, was apparently taken by gunpoint this past November. A blog article on “her story” appeared in Crooked in Canada around the same time.

In that article I suggested that Giesbrecht’s kidnapping was a hoax, a scam to raise capital for the terrorists with whom by her own admission, she has a lot of respect and empathy for. I still believe that to be the case,

The ransom demand report came from Pakistani News International who says they received their information from “unnamed sources.” Like Giesbrecht’s supposed kidnapping, I am having a hard time believing the PNI report that a ransom demand has been made.

Glen Cooper, a long time friend and obvious supporter (in my opinion anyway) of Qahaar’s causes, like terrorism for example, has said that he has mild optimism for the release of the woman who he likes to think is a valuable asset to the kidnappers (at $150k I would not consider her a very valuable asset), and that as long as the ransom demand looks like a business deal, there is hope that she will be released unharmed and returned to Canada.

Cooper sounds like a fool to me and you know what they say about fools and money.

Somebody might want to have a sit down with Cooper and explain to him that his “long time” friend might be putting one over on him, and that the ransom demand if it is true, was probably put into play by Giesbrecht herself, who in the early days of her kidnapping managed to get access to a computer where upon she pleaded for financial assistance on her website Jihad Unspun in the hope that she could raise enough money to win her release. It sounded like a scam to me back then and this whole kidnapping story still sounds like a scam to me today.

Giesbrecht’s plea on her website, which up until a couple of days ago was no longer online (it is back online now thanks to Canadian Press) has obviously fallen on deaf ears, otherwise I don’t think we would be hearing about this ransom demand.

A spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Ministry said this past Friday that Canadian officials in Pakistan had yet to hear about any ransom demand. You would think that the kidnappers would have contacted those Canadian officials if the PNI report was true wouldn’t you think?

Canada’s policy by the way is not to pay ransom money, and I really, really doubt Canadian taxpayers would be too pleased should they hear that the federal government would consider paying a ransom for the release of a woman who sympathizes with terrorists.

At the time of Giesbrecht’s suspicious kidnapping she was apparently on a freelance assignment for Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera has refused to confirm or deny that she was working for them, but I doubt it myself. I think her trip to Pakistan was part of an elaborate ruse she concocted to help raise money for either the terrorists she sympathizes with, or for herself and her website, and that this “freelance assignment” was just a cover so that she could get into Pakistan.

Giesbrecht had been in Pakistan for seven months prior to the alleged kidnapping and has this blogger wondering why if her kidnapping story is true, it took so long for terrorists to realize that she was as Glen Cooper put it, a valuable asset.

This story stinks, and I think Giesbrecht is hiding in Pakistan with all the comforts a woman could want, that the only thing missing in Pakistan as far as Giesbrecht goes is good Canadian values and morals.

This is a staged kidnapping as far as I’m concerned, and I can’t wait to hear what she has to say once she comes out of hiding, if and when a ransom is paid of course.

Kidnapped my ass!

Is The Kidnapping of Beverly Giesbrecht a Jihad Scam?