Al-Qaeda slaying of British captive prompts outrage in Maghreb

2009-06-04

Maghreb and European states describe the act as savage and barbaric and vow to pursue the perpetrators.

Said Jameh in Algiers, Jamel Arfaoui in Tunis and Siham Ali in Rabat contributed to this report – 04/06/09

[File] British tourist Edwin Dyer is the first hostage killed since al-Qaeda began high-profile kidnappings in the Sahel.

The Maghreb is reacting with anger to the execution of British hostage Edwin Dyer by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Maghreb and European states describe the act as savage and barbaric and vow to pursue the perpetrators.

In a statement posted on Islamist websites on Tuesday (June 2nd), AQIM announced that Edwin Dyer was killed at 7:30 local time. The unidentified location is believed to be in northern Mali. Dyer's murder is the first since the onset of terrorist kidnappings in 2003, when 32 European tourists were taken in the desert.

Dyer and other European tourists were kidnapped by al-Qaeda terrorists last January after attending a Tuareg cultural festival near the Mali-Nigeria border. Two women and two Canadian diplomats were freed last month. Swiss officials are reportedly working with Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure to secure the release of the Swiss tourist still in captivity.

The killing "is meant to give the UK a very small taste of the bitter medicine suffered by innocent Muslims daily at the hands of the alliance of the crusaders and the Jews east and west", the terrorist statement said.

Al-Qaeda had given the British government 20 days to free jailed terrorist Abu Qatada al-Filistini. After failing to secure Al-Filistini's release, the terrorist group issued a ransom demand, said to be for some 10m euros.

The British government did not pay.

The tragedy "strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "I want those who would use terror against British citizens to know beyond doubt that we and our allies will pursue them relentlessly, and that they will meet the justice they deserve," he added.

Algeria hailed the British government on Wednesday for refusing to negotiate and pay a ransom, which "would have served to finance activities by this terrorist group to destabilise the region". In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, Algeria also offered its sincere condolences and called the murder a "cowardly and odious terrorist act".

In Tunisia, political leaders were equally outraged.

"It's a heinous, unjustified crime against an innocent and unarmed citizen who went there to learn about the region and to meet with its people," Tunisian MP Adel Chaouch of the opposition Attajdid Movement told Magharebia.

"I think it's about time we came up with a clear plan among the region's countries to put an end to this phenomenon after the number of kidnappings has greatly increased," he added.

Raoudha Saibi of the Liberal Party called the terrorists "common killers and thieves" and backed Chaouch's call for a co-ordinated campaign to destroy the "remnants of terrorism that have started sending bad messages to the region".

"What took place is the most horrible thing that a human being can be subjected to; it's a crime against humanity. What's the guilt of an innocent citizen who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Saibi asked.

Kamel Aouadi, a tour guide, described the perpetrators as monsters, "who have no mercy in their hearts".

"I don't think they have done a service to the image of Islam," he said. "On the contrary, they have joined the ranks of its enemies."

In Morocco, an Islamist MP for Morocco's Renaissance and Virtue party denounced "the barbarous act". He says this was a crime perpetrated for no legitimate reason. The MP thinks the killing of an innocent person has no basis in law or religion.

An MP for the Popular Movement, Fatima Moustaghfir, says that the execution of the British hostage is a case of blackmail and settling of accounts at the expense of innocent lives.

Taj Eddine El Housseini, a lecturer in international relations in Morocco, fears terrorism is taking root in the region and called for strengthening the power of the states.

Tightening the screws on al-Qaeda in Algeria has forced them to find other places to carry on their terrorist activities, notably in the Sahara, where the states are unable to deal with the threat, he told Magharebia.

"The problem can be dealt with by strengthening the powers of the states concerned," he concluded.