A ransom offered by the Pakistan government for the release of a Canadian woman kidnapped by the Taliban more than four months ago has been rejected, sources close to the negotiations say. Failure of officials to gain the release of Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who also calls herself Khadija Abdul Qahaar, has raised fears that she might not survive captivity much longer. She has said she would be decapitated if a settlement wasn't made by today. Go ahead and chop her had off. She's on their side anyway.
"Khadija's rapidly deteriorating health may render any negotiation meaningless. You can't abuse a frail, elderly woman indefinitely without consequence," Glen Cooper, a long-time friend of hers in British Columbia, said yesterday in a brief statement. Mr. Cooper said Ms. Giesbrecht, 53, has looked frail and exhausted in two videos that have been released by the Taliban since she was seized at gunpoint in the Bannu region of northern Pakistan, in November. In one of those videos she says her health is deteriorating, she has pneumonia and needs to go to hospital.
According to two sources, one a Taliban spokesman and the other a tribal elder who has been negotiating for the release of Ms. Giesbrecht, the recent ransom offer by the local Pakistan administration was rejected by the kidnappers as "too little to be considered." Although Pakistan government officials in the volatile North Waziristan tribal area where she is being held have refused to acknowledge the ransom offer, the sources confirmed "some money" has been offered.
Earlier this month the Taliban asked for $375,000 (U.S.) to secure the release of Ms. Giesbrecht and two Pakistani assistants who were kidnapped with her. In a video that was released a few weeks ago, and in a recent telephone call to The Globe and Mail, Ms. Giesbrecht said she would be killed she wasn't released by the end of this month.
Backed by the local government administration, a three-member tribal committee has been shuttling between the kidnappers and the administration to try to broker her release. The Canadian embassy in Islamabad has been working behind the scenes with Pakistani authorities. "We are in contact with all the concerned Pakistani authorities. And it is the prime responsibility of the host country to protect the lives and properties of guests," said an official of the Canadian embassy who asked not to be identified. An official with the local government administration in North Waziristan said they were "making all out efforts to get her out from their [Taliban] captivity at every cost."
Ms. Giesbrecht, publisher of a pro-Islamic website, Jihad Unspun, went to Pakistan last summer to conduct research as a freelance journalist. Her visa application in Canada was supported by two letters from Al-Jazeera television, verifying she was doing freelance work for the network. In a video message released by her captors, she said she was seized at gunpoint when she returned to the Bannu region of Pakistan to pick up some antique coins from a local man who wanted them sold in England.
She was kidnapped by gunmen who reportedly work for the Taliban commander, Gul Bahadur. A close aide of Mr. Bahadur told The Globe and Mail he would request a deadline extension in order to continue negotiations over the size of the payment. "But one thing, which I want to make clear is that they [Taliban] are serious," said Qari, who asked to be identified by one name only. "They [the Pakistani and Canadian government] demonstrate stubbornness to pay ransom and get her released," he said. "Now we will reciprocate with the same attitude."