Posted on 05/31/2004 9:00:49 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia, May 31 (Reuters) - A Christian Arab who was held captive by al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia said on Monday he lied to them about his faith and praised their battle against the West, to save his life.
Nizar Hajazeen, a Jordanian software businessmen who was at the Tower hotel in the Oasis compound during the 25-hour drama in Khobar, said the militants lectured him about Islam and their aim to liberate Saudi Arabia from "infidels and crusaders".
The complex where the militants held about 50 foreigners -- including some Westerners -- was their last target in the violence in the eastern Saudi oil city in which they killed at least 22 people.
Hajazeen, 32, had tried to call a cab to go to work on Saturday but the phone lines were jumbled.
"I went down and the Filipino receptionist told me there were terrorists in the compound and gunshots were heard," he told Reuters.
He tried to help security guards close the hotel entrance gate but the lock did not work and a manager recommended he hide, Hajazeen said.
"I went to the room of a Jordanian colleague. Someone banged violently on the door. We opened and there were two men, one with a machinegun, another with a revolver. They were wearing black track suits," he said, adding that one had a wounded arm.
Both were in their twenties.
"They asked us if we were Arab or Westerners. We told them: 'We're Arab'.
"One then asked if I was a Christian or a Muslim. I told him we were Muslims and showed him my colleague's Koran as proof. I told him we supported them and that we were against America and Europe. I had to say that."
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
Residents of the compound said the attackers asked everyone they encountered if they were Muslim or Christian, before taking them hostage or killing them.
An Oasis manager said the gunmen shot and killed several Westerners as soon as they entered the complex.
The gunmen made two Indian hotel staff with master keys show them where the Westerners were, Hajazeen said.
His brother called him on his mobile phone to wish him a happy birthday -- a day late -- just as the militants were saying their motive was to drive Americans and Christians from their country.
"They asked me to turn off my mobile but did not take it away as they did with others," Hajazeen said, adding that they told him and his colleague to stay in the room and left.
"We stayed locked in our room. One of us was hiding in the shower, another one was hiding in the bathtub," Hajazeen said, adding that from time to time they sneaked back into the bedroom to watch the news on television.
He said that before commandos freed them on Sunday, compound security guards called his mobile to ask him to check if the militants had rigged his floor with explosives. He found nothing.
"Before the commandos came, there was heavy gunfire and one explosion shook the hotel. We could hear glass being smashed, screams... It sounded like someone was giving out orders."
Saudi security forces later called them out, saying: "Do not be scared."
Making his way to freedom he saw the bodies of four Indians and an Italian cook.
"They had been shot dead. Some were on the staircases."
They believed in a Messiah that would overthrow the yoke of Rome and restore Israel to the Jews. A living, powerful Jesus fit the bill, but once he was dead, he no longer lived up to their expectations. (See Acts 1:6 - even after he was resurrected they still didn't quite get that world conquest wasn't what Jesus was all about.)
Exactly. I think what the man did is forgivable. It's not like he's out there regularly preaching the non-existence or non-divinity of Christ.
Absolute nonsense!
Well then, we disagree.
A lot of people miss that one. Still, Abraham was a coward, hiding behind his wife's skirt. He knew the intent of Abimelech, but instead of protecting his wife, he gave her up to protect his own hide. It was God who had to protect Sarah. Obviously, Abraham's faith hadn't been refined at that point, but God worked with him in spite of himself, just as He does with all of us if our hearts are sincere, so the bottom line is that none of us can really know this man's heart. Only God knows that.
When you are that close to dying, you should be imitating Jesus more than imitating Satan.
I do not agree. SheLion has not presented herself as someone that is spiritually immature.
Just what I was thinking. Do you imagine that several others on this forum could have just lost everlasting life?
I know. I was addressing both of you and included Pod's comment, that's all. Sorry if you misunderstood.
That's the second implicit insult you have given me. The first was "I'm not the one that's twisted." For someone who so piously concerns himself with the eternal life of a Christian who faced death, you certainly like to hand out insults freely under much lesser circumstances. In my opinion, that's worse than what he did.
I'm still reading the thread.
Good point. I guess I hadn't looked at it that way. Thankfully, he is alive to choose another day. Hopefully it will be a choice for Christ when that day comes.
This is pretty funny, Mr. Pot.
Just what I was thinking. Do you imagine that several others on this forum could have just lost everlasting life?
Gee, I hope not. I don't wish that on anyone.
She was still his wife, denying she was is still a lie.
Good one.
Then why were they following Him?
Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to [him] for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Because the man denied to his probable murderer with "words" that he was a Christian, you don't think God would know what was in his heart? Did his heart change, or did his instinct for survival just take over?
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