al-jazeera airs video of kidnapped Canadian, Australian journalists

On August 23, 2008, Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout, Australian journalist Nigel Brennen and Somali reporter Abdifatah Mohammed Elmi were kidnapped while on assignment near Mogadishu. The kidnappers, calling themselves Mujahideen of Somalia accuse Canada and Australia of “taking part in the destruction of Somalia” and that they “review” their policies. $2.5 million is demanded for the release of the hostages.

Al-Jazeera has aired a video of Amanda Lindhout wearing a long robe along with her colleague surrounded by gunmen and while Ms. Lindhout is speaking to the camera, the audio track is not heard. 

The Islamist insurgents have denied kidnapping the journalists????

Somalia has been wracked by civil war for almost two decades. Thousands of lives have been lost and hundreds of thousands more driven from their homes. Islamist insurgents have been in bloody and bitter conflict with Ethiopian troops and an interim government since last year. Somalia is considered by many, the most dangerous country in the Horn of Africa and civil war has left illness and mass starvation at critical levels.

And what Canadian policies is the Mujahideen of Somalia asking Canada to reverse?  The policy of sending medical aid to yet another Islamic nation incapable of achieving even modest health care for it’s sick? Encouraging education programs so that children can become literate? Promoting agricultural and clean water systems? Or, how about deploying a frigate to escort U.N. World Food Program vessels carrying food aid into designated ports to protect them from increasing piracy? 

Somalia is being destroyed, but not by Canadians or Australians. Warring tribal factions, opposing clans, an incompetent government and Islamists are destroying Somalia.

Grace

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