Canadian Convert Beheading Threat a Fraud?

I posted last week about a Canadian woman who is facing beheading: Grim Irony: Canadian Islamic Convert Woman Facing Beheading in Pakistan

The anti-terrorism site, the Jawa Report, have known about her for years, and openly wonders if this is a set up:

We've been following the story of Beverly Giesbrecht (aka, Khadija Abdul Qahar) fairly closely for years now. As the owner and operator of the "Jihad Unspun" website, she wrote countless stories about how US and Canadian troops were the "real terrorists" and how the Taliban were simply anti-imperialist freedom fighters -- the "resistance" as she liked to call them.

I actually knew Beverly was on her way to Pakistan as she and I crossed paths at some Islamist forums. She was at the forums looking for video and trying to hook up with "resistance fighters" who could help her and Phil Rees -- who she claimed to be working with --- on their "documentary" about "Islamic resistance". A "documentary" she claimed would show the "resistance" point of view.

So, if Beverly really was kidnapped by the Taliban and if she is about to be beheaded, how come nothing happened to Phil Rees? Presumably the Taliban would be more interested in killing an infidel who is sympathetic to their cause before they would want to kill a sister who is sympathetic to their cause?

Let me say publicly what every one I know is saying privately: are you really being held hostage Beverly or is this some elaborate scam to raise money for the Taliban (or for yourself and your failing website)?

Yes, I am skeptical. What would the Taliban have to gain from beheading a woman who is on the record as a supporter? Jihad Unspun used to deliver Taliban press releases unedited. The whole thing seems rather fishy.

Of course, there remains the possibility that this is exactly what this seems. That the Taliban really are holding Beverly hostage and that they really are going to behead her if a ransom isn't paid. If that is the case, then I really do feel sorry for "Khadija". Even fools deserve our pity sometimes.

Yes Beverly, the Taliban really were the bad guys all along. A hard lesson learned, and possibly too late on your part.

Grim Irony: Canadian Islamic Convert Woman Facing Beheading in Pakistan

Khadija Abdul Qahar, formerly know as Beverly Giesbrecht, was kidnapped by the Taliban in northern Pakistan. The Globe and Mail has the details, with hostage video:

BANNU, PAKISTAN and TORONTO — A Canadian held hostage after she travelled to the lawless tribal belt of northern Pakistan says the Taliban will behead her by the end of the month if a ransom isn't paid.

In a new video provided to The Globe and Mail, Beverly Giesbrecht expresses fear for her life if her captors aren't paid.

“I have been advised and asked to make this video. We have very short time now and I am going to be killed, as you can see,” she says, gesturing at the dagger on the wall behind her, pointed at her head.

(...)

Ms. Giesbrecht, who is also known as Khadija Abdul Qahaar, has been a captive for four months. The West Vancouver resident converted to Islam after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and runs a website, Jihad Unspun, that says it provides information “devoid of the constraints of mainstream media.” Her visa application to Pakistan said she was a freelance journalist working on a documentary for the Al-Jazeera television network.

She was captured by gunmen last November, reportedly by the Taliban commander Gul Bahadur, who leads fighters in the volatile North Waziristan region.

“I need some kind, someone to help me, the Pakistani government and my own country and somebody must move now, because my life is going to be over. I want to go home. So, these people are serious. Please help me,” a wavering Ms. Giesbrecht says in her latest video.

I checked out her website, and it is unapologetically pro-jihad, including a sick musical video of a US personnel carrier being blown up. The site is jihadunspun.com. Sample:

Here is a new video release from the Islamic State of Iraq that shows Mujahideen detonating an IED at a US Bradley in Baghdad that completely destroys the vehicle. Please be patient as this Windows Media file downloads to your computer.

I hope she gets out of this and realizes the errors of her way and drops the jihad posturing.

Beheading in Buffalo

There's a grim irony to this story:

Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband -- an influential member of the local Muslim community -- reported her death to police Thursday.

(...)

Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light.