Posted on 06/20/2004 3:01:32 PM PDT by Brilliant
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape Sunday purportedly from al-Qaida linked militants showing a South Korean hostage begging for his life and pleading with his government to withdraw troops from Iraq.
The kidnappers, who identified themselves as belonging to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, gave South Korea 24 hours to meet its demand or "we will send you the head of this Korean."
"Please, get out of here," the man screamed in English, flailing his arms. "I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I know that your life is important, but my life is important."
A South Korean television news station, YTN, identified the hostage as Kim Sun-il, 33, an employee of a South Korean company called Arab Trading. It said he was captured in the Fallujah area.
The video came two days after news of the beheading of American hostage Paul Johnson by al-Qaida-linked militants in Saudi Arabia, and an announcement Friday by South Korea that it will send 3,000 soldiers to northern Iraq beginning in early August. Once the deployment is complete, South Korea will be the largest coalition partner in Iraq after the United States and Britain.
After showing the hostage's plea, the tape showed him kneeling in front of three masked men, two of them armed with Kalashnikovs. The man standing in the middle read a statement in Arabic.
"Our message to the South Korean government and the Korean people: We first demand you withdraw your forces from our lands and not send more of your forces to this land. Otherwise, we will send to you the head of this Korean, and we will follow it by the heads of your other soldiers."
The statement gave Seoul 24 hours from sunset Sunday to meet its demand.
The group identified itself as Monotheism and Jihad; its purported leader, al-Zarqawi, is a Jordanian-born terrorist linked to al-Qaida. Al-Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the videotaped beheading last month of American businessman Nicholas Berg.
An Al-Jazeera staff member at the network headquarters in Qatar, Mohammed al-Saadi, told The Associated Press by telephone that the two-minute videotape was mailed to the Al-Jazeera bureau in Baghdad.
"Our office in Baghdad received an unknown package; they opened it and they found the tape," al-Saadi said.
On Saturday, Seoul warned its people not to travel to Iraq, saying its decision to send troops might prompt terror attacks on South Koreans. The warning came amid news of the beheading of Johnson, although it did not mention the incident.
"At this time, we cannot rule out the possibility of harm to our nationals, following the official announcement of the additional troop dispatch to Iraq," Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil said in a statement.
"The government urges the people to refrain from visiting Iraq," it said.
South Korea plans to send 900 troops to Kurdish-controlled Irbil in early August, followed by about 1,100 troops between late August and early September. An additional 1,000 soldiers will travel to Iraq later.
South Korea already has 600 military medics and engineers in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.
Seoul has portrayed the dispatch as a way of strengthening its alliance with the United States, thereby winning more support from Washington for a peaceful end to a long-running dispute over North Korea's nuclear weapons development.
Johnson, 49, an engineer who had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, was kidnapped last weekend by militants who followed through on a threat to kill him by Friday if the Saudi kingdom did not release its al-Qaida prisoners.
This saddens me deeply.
If your country's will can be subverted by a group of thugs threatening to murder a single individual, then you have no country.
Please keep the family and all South Koreans in your prayers.
And remember that they are going out of their way to enter a war that does not directly affect them. I respect the Koreans highly for doing what many Europeans won't do. They are sending troops despite having a real threat on their border, which isn't true of Germany or France.
HEH HEH HEH...
FMCDH(BITS)
Certainly it makes sense to either:
1. Total black out these guys as you suggest, but then they audience is the Middle East.
2. Show both the demand AND the murder and its aftermath. People need to see American falling out of the World Trade Center, the Murder of Nick Berg, the severed heads of Mr. Perlman and Mr. Johnson, the shooting of the Italian hostage if it was shown and whatever happens to this Korean. Showing only half the story is bad journalism. Failing to show these picture is compounded by the overblow repetition about the few Iraqi prisoners US troops may have abuses, that is abused not tortured.
It's just what I'm reminded of whenever liberals get hold of anything.
FMCDH(BITS)
Who would really benefits from the blackout? If they have American hostages, then the American people would not know; thus public outrage and anger againstthese horrible acts would not grow. Kerry essentially wins.
If Americans see nothing bad happening, then all those "Why-are-we-there?" advocates gain a louder voice. Airing these acts gives those of us who believe in the actions in Iraq additional resolve that President Bush was right to send our troops there in the first place.
I remember when I was young, watching on our little black and white TV the Viet Nam War. There was no censorship then, and they showed the gore of the war. And when the Somali's dragged our soldier through the streets in Black Hawk Down. They showed it on TV.
Now, all of a sudden, the media wants to censor everything and put everything on a 7 second delay. What's up with this?
When I turned 21, I expected to be treated as an adult. Now, I am being treated like a child again. I'm not happy with this.
I'm with you. A picture speaks a thousand words.
When we hear the words, we think 'Oh! That's too bad.' But when we SEE the picture, then we say "OMG!" Big difference.
And remember that they are going out of their way to enter a war that does not directly affect them. I respect the Koreans highly for doing what many Europeans won't do. They are sending troops despite having a real threat on their border, which isn't true of Germany or France.
I definitely am keeping them in my prayers. I have a niece and two nephews who were adopted from South Korea (one via Ukraine), so this is especially unsettling for me. You are right; they are showing tremendous courage in sending additional troops.
Thank you.
I thought we did knock out their office or whatever it was in the early days in Afghanistan.
South Korea's economy is so tied into ours, they'd be a fool to step out. Plus, they are a macho, militaristic society. I doubt very much they'd cut and run over this.
The men I knew, would respond by delivering and stacking about 100 heads in front of the Mosque -- the following morning...
They wouldn't be overly fussy about picking the candidates, either....
THEY understood how to deal with lunatics...
I wish WE understood....as well.
Semper Fi
I agree. And BTW, why is this thread so small? You're right about Koreans. If they cut this guy's head off, they will react with force. I worked for a Korean Company. I know the Korean mindset. This could be VERY interesting.
What do you suppose they might do? Nothing would warm my heart's cackles like an ally getting revenge - like we're not supposed to do (or share, if we did).
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