Taliban says Polish hostage beheaded in Pakistan

[blain2]

Pakistan is complicit in killing by Taliban, a Polish official says
The Associated Press
Published: February 10, 2009

WARSAW: A day after a video appeared purporting to show the beheading of a Polish engineer by Taliban militants in Pakistan, the Polish government promised Monday to issue international arrest warrants for the militants, and officials charged that elements within the Pakistani government shared blame for the killing.

Without a body, the Polish authorities were unable to confirm the death of the engineer, Piotr Stanczak, 42, but they said a seven-minute video delivered Sunday to journalists in Pakistan appeared to be authentic.

Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski condemned the killing as a "bestial execution" and said the government would issue arrest warrants for the killers.

"A crime was committed," he said, "so there has to be an investigation, a search for the culprits, and if possible putting them before the justice system, and an exemplary punishment."

It was not immediately clear what impact the warrants would have, because Poland does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.
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Justice Minister Andrzej Czuma said Polish intelligence had identified the kidnappers as members of a Taliban group. He said intelligence had "described the leadership of the group, their relatives, where they are located, their friends in Pakistani government structures."

Czuma said the extremists enjoyed the favor of some Pakistani officials. "A lot of people among Pakistan's authorities sympathize with these bandits," he said on a television news channel.

Pakistan's top diplomat in Poland rejected the accusation, saying his country was doing everything in its power to combat terrorism.

"Suicide attacks are being carried out against the security forces, and we have lost not only common citizens but our security forces in tribal areas," said Malik Farooq, the chargé d'affaires at the Pakistani Embassy in Warsaw. "Pakistan has been a great victim of terrorism and extremism."

Stanczak was kidnapped near the Afghan border on Sept. 28 by armed men while he was surveying oil and gas fields for a Krakow-based geophysics company. The gunmen killed three Pakistanis traveling with him.

His killing, if confirmed, would be the first of a Western hostage in Pakistan since Daniel Pearl, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was beheaded in 2002.

A spokesman for the Taliban in northwestern Pakistan said Stanczak was "slaughtered" because the Pakistani government missed a deadline to release 26 prisoners. The Taliban had also demanded that the government withdraw troops from tribal areas.

The video shows two hooded men taking a dagger in turn and running it along the victim's neck. One of them then cleans his blood-soaked hands with the victim's shirt.
Pakistan is complicit in killing by Taliban, a Polish official says - International Herald Tribune

Do you realize what the context of the "extremist enjoying favor of some Pakistani officials" means before you highlight it with a size 40 font?

There are people in the Pakistani assembly and senate (MNAs and MPAs) that hail from the regions that are having this militancy problem. These people have linkages into the tribes that are providing the manpower to the militancy. These MNAs etc. are the people that the GoP turns to in order to negotiate. These people go back and forth between the Govt and the Taliban. There is no direct government to Taliban contacts. So when things don't go well then such accusations will fly.

Maybe the solution is to send these MNAs and MPAs off to Warsaw so they can be jailed because they hail from the tribal regions and represent the people from such areas.

 

[Flintlock]

Well thank you blain2. I'm not pretending to be an expert on anything, just highlighting what happenes to be quite a serious accusation.

 

[roadrunner]

The whole point of kidnapping someone of significance (in this case a white skinned foreigner), beheading him, making a video tape of it and then sending it to government officials, media outlets etc. is to garner as much attention as possible.

It is the kidnapper's propaganda that is being conveyed here, not anyone else's.

Alright, but that wasn't quite my point.

Why is the media/politicians actively conveying the kidnappers' propaganda?

I mean surely the media and politicians don't want to be helping the terrorists convey their propaganda and destabilize the governments? Do they? But so much publicity

Anyhow I feel about as sorry for him as I do for the innocent people killed in the drone strikes.

Btw, white skin has nothing to do with this. I've seen a lot whiter than that guy in Pakistan. He wouldn't have looked too out of place in even some places of Sindh.

 

[metalfalcon]

I am sure you have at least enough common sense to figure out the difference between kidnapping and killing someone working in Pakistan vs launching terror attacks upon another country.

Many British Citizens of Pakistani Origin were involved in Terrorist activities in UK and now i am sure you have enough common sense to Figure out "How their PM was speaking about Co-operating with Pakistan in order to Root out this Cancer and How your Govt Behaves"

 

[imtiyaz]

Wat was he doing here anyway..when these guys know n propagate that pakistan is dangerous n evil then y come here..i think if he had been hanged or shot noone would ve said anything..its only because of the shariat killing that they ve problems.These people r only anti islam.N v aren weak like india that v wil negotiate..remember Kandahar...

 

[Lockheed F-16]

When will we kill all terrorists?!

 

[A.Rahman]

When will we kill all terrorists?!

dont go into their territory and don't bomb bomb their people.

The problem would be solved

 

[Lockheed F-16]

dont go into their territory and don't bomb bomb their people.

The problem would be solved

The TTP is funded by RAW, we have to destroy them!

 

[imtiyaz]

not only RAW but also CIA.they r two big evils.America is a bigger evil.See wat its doing to our Pashtun brothers...They will meet their Vietnam fate here.We only need to support themSame thing that US did when USSR invaded Afghanistan

 

[third eye]

Some comments here are not dissimilar to what others feel...


http://www.dawn.net/wps/wcm/connect...-page/rift+in+pakistan+govt+sealed+poles+fate

‘Rift in Pakistan govt sealed Pole’s fate’



Wednesday, 11 Feb, 2009 | 08:57 AM PST |

WARSAW, Feb 10: Internal divisions within Pakistan’s government apparatus hampered efforts to save the life of a Polish hostage beheaded by Taliban militants, Poland’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.

“That the (Islamabad) government cannot count on the loyalty of all of its officers and officials is a sad reality,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told a news conference after a weekly cabinet meeting dominated by the killing of Piotr Stanczak.“This was an obstacle in our cooperation, but nevertheless we had cooperation (from the Pakistani side),” said Mr Sikorski, who as a journalist in the 1980s spent time in the region with Afghan guerrillas battling Soviet troops.

The media have quoted Justice Minister Andrzej Czuma as saying after the beheading that Polish intelligence knew the identity of Mr Stanczak’s kidnappers and their “friends in the Pakistani government”. Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday termed Mr Czuma’s comments “very unfortunate” and said the minister — in his job barely three weeks — would not be authorised to comment on this case in future.

Mr Tusk said he did not know whether Pakistan had done all it could to help free Mr Stanczak, adding: “All I can say is that they were very well aware how important this issue was for us.”

Mr Sikorski dismissed suggestions that Warsaw was inactive in trying to secure Mr Stanczak’s release and said the militants had not been interested in ransom money.

“We had to deal with people who are evil in a pure form, whose perverted sense of honour is based on cruelty,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Polish foreign minister on Tuesday asked the US for support in hunting down the Taliban militants suspected in the beheading of engineer.

Radoslaw Sikorski said Poland’s ambassador in Washington had submitted a note to the US State Department “with a request for support for our efforts to capture the killers.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said he had not yet heard of the request. “But of course, should they come to us with a request for assistance, we will do whatever we can.”

Sikorski said Poland was also offering a $290,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the killers of Stanczak.—Agencies

 

[TruthSeeker]

Taliban feud over murder of Polish hostage

By Bill Roggio,The Long War Journal February 11, 2009

Two senior Pakistani Taliban leaders had a disagreement over the handling of kidnapped Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak. The disagreement led to Stanczak's gruesome beheading, which was videotaped by the Taliban and released to the public.

Stanczak was kidnapped in Attock on Sept. 28, 2008 by Taliban fighters under the command of Zakir Mehsud operating from the Arakzai tribal agency. Two of Stanczak's drivers and one of the Taliban fighters were killed during the kidnapping. Attock is a district in Punjab province that borders the districts of Nowshera, Swabi, and Haripur in the Taliban insurgency-ridden Northwest Frontier Province

The disagreement occurred between Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, and Qari Hussain Mehsud, a key lieutenant Baitullah, according to a report from the region.

Baitullah sought to use Stanczak to obtain the release of several of his followers while Qari Hussain, who had custody of Stanczak, sought the release of four members of the radical Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and an Uzbek, a Taliban source told The News. The move triggered Qari to execute Stanczak.

“A day before the beheading of the engineer [Stanczak], Baitullah sent his men to bring the captive but the Qari group did not agree and beheaded the captive the next day,” Mohammed, a Taliban spokesman for Zakir Mehsud told The News. "This forced Qari to behead the Polish engineer." Zakir Mehsud is one of Qari's lieutenants in the city of Darra Adam Khel in the Arakzai tribal agency.

Mohammed quoted Zakir as saying Qari's decision to behead Stanczak was sound as "as it would create fear amongst the nonbelievers. If we keep on sending such gifts to the Europeans and others, they would soon be compelled to flee the region,” Mohammed said. “If God wishes, people would see more and more beheadings of nonbelievers in the future.”

Hakimullah Mehsud, the Taliban commander in Arakzai, Khyber, and Peshawar behind the attacks on NATO's supply lines in northwestern Pakistan, had hoped to get a teenager to behead Stanczak but the plan was called off due to the short amount of time to find a child, Mohammed said.

The Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan have released videotapes of children and teenagers beheading captives several times in the past.

The report of the disagreement between Baitullah and Qari became public just two days after a roadside bomb wounded Mullah Noor Sayyed Mehsud, a deputy of Baitullah's, and killed another Taliban commander and wounded another leader. Noor was leaving a meeting of senior Taliban commanders in Makeen, Baitullah's home town. There is no evidence that the two incidents are linked, but Qari is one of the few people who could pull off such an attack.

"The beheading of the Polish engineer by the Qari group will further deepen the already existing differences between the TTP [Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan] and Qari Hussain,” Mohammed said.

Baitullah and Qari Hussain clashed in June 2007 after the latter's foot soldiers launched a series of violent attacks on police in the tribal areas. Qari Hussain's followers conducted beheadings and assassinations of tribal leaders in South Waziristan and the settled district of Tank. He was behind the attack on the home of the political agent of Khyber Agency, which resulted in the death of the agent's six family members and seven guests.

The incidents resulted in clashes between the two Taliban leaders as Qari Hussain failed to obtain permission to conduct his campaign of terror. Baitullah retaliated by capturing 17 of Qari Hussain's followers and threatened to kill them. The rift between the two leaders was quickly smoothed over during the summer after the Taliban went on the offensive against the Pakistani military, government, and civilians in July of 2007.

 

[Energon]

Alright, but that wasn't quite my point.

Why is the media/politicians actively conveying the kidnappers' propaganda?

I mean surely the media and politicians don't want to be helping the terrorists convey their propaganda and destabilize the governments? Do they? But so much publicity

Because important and/or shocking events are newsworthy by default; which is why attention seekers are constantly attempting to create such events in the first place. And that importance or sense of shock is generally based on the ethos of a people and/or the measure of their sensitivity to the subject matter; it just so happens that for much of the world terrorist attacks, kidnappings and videotaped beheadings fall into this category.

Btw, white skin has nothing to do with this. I've seen a lot whiter than that guy in Pakistan. He wouldn't have looked too out of place in even some places of Sindh.

Sorry for not being specific. I wasn't referring to the generic morphological attributes of an epidermis with relatively low melanocytic output; I meant to say a non Pakistani, Western appearing individual.

Also, your anecdotal example might be an albino for all I know.

 

[roadrunner]

Because important and/or shocking events are newsworthy by default; which is why attention seekers are constantly attempting to create such events in the first place. And that importance or sense of shock is generally based on the ethos of a people and/or the measure of their sensitivity to the subject matter; it just so happens that for much of the world terrorist attacks, kidnappings and videotaped beheadings fall into this category.

The point was, I can present hundreds of cases around the world of Polish men being stabbed to death.

Now we have a case here of a Polish man being beheaded to death - what is it about this case that makes it so special? Is it the beheading part? Alright, what about this case then?

RIA Novosti - Russia - Tajik national beheaded in Moscow Region race-hate murder

These certainly were not Muslims that beheaded the unfortunate Tajik.

Look at it without any bias. Are the two cases, that of the Russian beheading, and that of the Pakistani one,any different really? I would say no, they're not, though one appears war-motivated, the other racially motivated.

There's really not much difference, except that one was filmed, and then broadcast, the other was not.

Sorry for not being specific. I wasn't referring to the generic morphological attributes of an epidermis with relatively low melanocytic output; I meant to say a non Pakistani, Western appearing individual.

Also, your anecdotal example might be an albino for all I know.

Lol, alright, thanks for pointing out that you were not referring to "the generic morphological attributes of an epidermis with relatively low melanocytic output".

I've seen more Western looking Pakistanis than that guy. He was wearing local outfit from what I could see anyway.

Nothing to do with albinos either. Normal people without any mutations look way more Polish than that guy in parts of Pakistan.

 

[Energon]

The point was, I can present hundreds of cases around the world of Polish men being stabbed to death.

I hope you are aware that not all crimes are perceived in the same way, even if they result in death (for this has never happened in the history of human civilization). A terrorist kidnapping which leads to a hostage situation and culminates in a beheading elicits a response far different from that of other common crimes like shootings or stabbings to which most of the world has been desensitized to.

Again, the whole point of kidnapping a foreigner, then videotaping his beheading and sending it around is to tap into the shock factor. This shock factor is the expected reaction to this particular crime and it will remain so until the target audience is desensitized to it. At that point such an act will no longer be a preferred tactic for attention seekers.

This particular beheading made news because it was a trans national affair. Had these people beheaded random locals nobody would have cared (it probably does happen).

This man was targeted because he was a foreigner, and the assailants knew very well that killing white foreigners garners a lot of attention. It's no wonder that this very objective is usually given top priority by most terrorist groups these days.

I'm not sure what you are unable to understand... that not all crimes are the same? Or that not all the people share the same ethos? Or that not all individuals are valued the same when they are victims of certain kinds of crime? Either way, you might as well make peace with all these facts because they are very much ingrained into the human psyche and are unlikely to change.

 

[roadrunner]

I hope you are aware that not all crimes are perceived in the same way, even if they result in death (for this has never happened in the history of human civilization). A terrorist kidnapping which leads to a hostage situation and culminates in a beheading elicits a response far different from that of other common crimes like shootings or stabbings to which most of the world has been desensitized to.

Again, the whole point of kidnapping a foreigner, then videotaping his beheading and sending it around is to tap into the shock factor. This shock factor is the expected reaction to this particular crime and it will remain so until the target audience is desensitized to it. At that point such an act will no longer be a preferred tactic for attention seekers.

This particular beheading made news because it was a trans national affair. Had these people beheaded random locals nobody would have cared (it probably does happen).

This man was targeted because he was a foreigner, and the assailants knew very well that killing white foreigners garners a lot of attention. It's no wonder that this very objective is usually given top priority by most terrorist groups these days.

I'm not sure what you are unable to understand... that not all crimes are the same? Or that not all the people share the same ethos? Or that not all individuals are valued the same when they are victims of certain kinds of crime? Either way, you might as well make peace with all these facts because they are very much ingrained into the human psyche and are unlikely to change.

The WHOLE of that response can be replaced by the Takistan/Russia example I gave in my previous post. So called desensitization to beheadings by foreigners didn't make such international headlines there.

But this wasn't what I meant at all, though you've alluded to it in your post. Essentially these crimes are exactly the same, whether it's the shooting or stabbing of (say) a Polish man in France, or the behading of a Polish man in Pakistan. The difference (according to you) is that the viewing public is desensitized to one, but not to the other - in fact I don't agree with that. The sight of someone being stabbed to death will evoke revulsion by anyone watching it, as a beheading does. However, the stabbers do not dress up in balaclavas and film their stabbings, then post them round the place, and the media does not broadcast it.

But basically these crimes are the same imo. You're suggesting the perception is different due to desensitization, which seems wrong to me for the reasons given.