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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

The last time I went to the library I brought home
what is purported to be a traditional version of the Koran
(bound and lettered like a Bible or any other high quality
book) and a modern 'revised' version. After many pages
of comparisons ran into one total deadhead, er, deadend
'revision'. The original referred to 'lifeless' as in *idols*, 
the revision translated that as in *goddesses* .... 
(say what ? how did idol translate as female ? unless
it's a mindset ??) oh, well ... my point is that the Koran 
dwells continuously on making and *keeping* money, on 
being exempted from *paying* when "not able" and the
ability is left up to the *payee*, but leaves no doubt that :

Non-believers *will be killed* "where you find them" - - -
and that one can legally have four wives (the revision
doesn't counter this) and they are interchangeable,
as in 'divorce the current non-favorite (presumably 
one who has been around long enough to annoy) and 
marry a 'fresh' model in her place and still be 'legal' '.

Along about this time I've had about as much of
another culture/belief as I can take and both books 
are going back to the library (although the garbage 
can is closer) but nevertheless, with what I've read 
so far fairly fresh in memory, I became interested in 
the following news-articles, particularly to see where 
relatives 'stand' in real life - if there is a priority on
whom to save (or dispose of ?) - who knows ? this 
may be in the rest of the hundreds of pages I'm not 
gonna waste any more of my eyesight on : 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6449794/

 

Group threatens to behead Iraqi prime minister's relatives

Allawi's cousin, two others kidnapped; group demands end to Fallujah assault

 

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 12:28 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2004

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen abducted three members of Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad 
Allawi's family from their Baghdad home, his spokesman said Wednesday, and 
militants claimed they would be beheaded in two days if the siege of Fallujah 
was not lifted.

A cousin of the premier, Ghazi Allawi, the cousin's wife and their 
daughter-in-law were snatched Tuesday night from their house in the the 
western Yarmouk neighborhood, government spokesman Thair al-Naqeeb said.

A statement from Al-Naqeeb corrected his earlier report that two relatives 
were kidnapped, the cousin and the daughter-in-law. 

"Ghazi Allawi is 75 years old. He has no political affiliation and is not 
holding a government post," the statement said. 

Allawi rejects demands
It also indicated that the prime minister would not give in to the demands. 

"This is yet another criminal act by terrorists and will not thwart the 
determination of the government to combat terrorism," the statement said. 

A previously unknown group calling itself Ansar al-Jihad group claimed in a 
Web posting that it carried out the abductions and threatened to behead the 
three in 48 hours unless Allawi and his government release all female and 
male detainees in Iraq and lift the siege on Fallujah.

"We promise Allah and his messenger that if the agent government doesn't 
respond to our demands within 48 hours, they (the hostages) will be beheaded."

The claim's authenticity couldn't be verified.

Hundreds of Iraqis have been kidnapped in recent months, mainly by groups 
demanding ransom payments.

More than 170 foreigners abducted
More than 170 foreigners have been kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq since 
Saddam Hussein's regime fell in April 2003. More than 30 foreign hostages 
have been killed. Many of the kidnappers pursue political motives such as the 
withdrawal of foreign companies and troops from Iraq.

On Wednesday, an Iraqi general told reporters that Iraqi troops had 
discovered "hostage slaughterhouses" in the city of Fallujah where foreign 
captives were held and killed. 

The general did not say whether remains of captives were found and did not 
comment on whether the houses were believed linked to notorious Jordanian 
militant Abu Musabal-Zarqawi or any of several other militant groups that 
have claimed kidnappings. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6451731/<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6451731/>

 

'Hostage slaughterhouses' found in Fallujah

Iraqi general says troops found records of captives 

 

MSNBC News Services

Updated: 1:28 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2004

 

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - Iraqi troops have found "hostage slaughterhouses" in 
Fallujah where foreign captives were held and killed, the commander of Iraqi 
forces in the city said Wednesday.

Troops found CDs and records of people taken captive in houses in the 
northern part of Fallujah, Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem Mohan told 
reporters.

The most notorious abductions in Iraq have been by the al-Qaida-linked group 
led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Al-Zarqaqi was believed to 
have been in Fallujah, but commanders now say he likely fled the city before 
the huge offensive launched this week by U.S. and Iraqi forces. 

Mohan did not say whether remains of captives were found and did not comment 
on whether the houses were believed linked to al-Zarqawi or any of several 
other militant groups that have claimed kidnappings. 

 "We have found hostage slaughterhouses in Fallujah that were used by these 
people and the black clothing that they used to wear to identify themselves, 
hundreds of CDs and whole records with names of hostages," the general said 
at a military camp near Fallujah.

Mohan was unsure if the hostage records included the names of any of the at 
least nine foreigners still in the hands of kidnappers - most notably, 
British aid worker Margaret Hassan, French journalists Christian Chesnot and 
Georges Malbrunot and two Americans.

"I did not look closely" at the documents, he said. 

More than 170 foreigners have been kidnapped this year, and more than 30 of 
them have been killed by their captors.

Al-Zarqawi's followers have beheaded three Americans, two Britons, a Japanese 
and a South Korean, usually releasing grisly videos showing the decapitations.

Many others have been freed in exchange for money. 

Philippine Foreign Ministry officials said on Tuesday that kidnappers were 
demanding ransoms totaling about $20 million for an American and a Filipino 
abducted last week in Baghdad.

They said the kidnappers of Robert Tarongoy, a 31-year-old accountant, had 
contacted his employer, Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Company 
(SATCO), and demanded money in exchange for the freedom of the hostages.

Tarongoy, an unidentified American, a Nepali and three Iraqis were taken at 
gunpoint on Nov. 1 from their offices in Baghdad. The Iraqis and the Nepali 
have been released.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.