Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who converted to Islam in 2002 and adopted the name Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was on a freelance assignment for the Al Jazeera network when she was abducted in northern Pakistan this week. Ms. Giesbrecht, a former magazine publisher in British Columbia who runs a website that is critical of the U.S.-led war on terror and the mainstream media's coverage of it, had ventured into the highly dangerous North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, when she was taken at gunpoint out of a taxi, along with her translator.A few weeks before she was seized on Tuesday, Ms. Giesbrecht, whom friends described as "tough and fearless," appealed through her website, Jihad Unspun, for financial help to get out of the country. "As you know, the JUS team is in Pakistan making a documentary film and shoring up direct contacts for our news report which have become very weak in recent years due to third-hand reporting and a variety of other challenges," she said in an open letter. "Pakistan is now erupting into a full-scale war zone. We have been in some very sensitive areas and even Islamabad is now locked down. As foreigners we must leave the country however we do not have the funds to get out," she wrote.
"Allah knows that I really dislike having to ask but please know how hard we work for Allah. We have managed to get very good material out of the country to our production group but our physical safety is now paramount. I make this personal and urgent appeal to you to send whatever [c]ontribution you can to assist us to return to Canada and Britain (I am Canadian, our other member with me is from Britain and we also have some local Pakistanis who cannot leave the country I am afraid). As a woman, I have already had a few close calls in the tribal areas as kidnappers and thieves are running loose even in Peshawar."
Ms. Giesbrecht, 52, left Vancouver on April 7 and flew to London, going on to Lahore, Pakistan, on Aug. 4.
Mamoona Malik, a spokesperson for the High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Ottawa, said Ms. Giesbrecht's visa application was supported by two letters from Al Jazeera, verifying she was doing freelance work. One of those letters was signed by Phil Rees, a former British Broadcasting Corp. foreign correspondent who runs his own documentary film company and who identified himself as news director, London, for Al Jazeera. The second letter was signed by Scott Ferguson, programming director for Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera officials did not respond to calls yesterday.
"The letters say that she'll be working with Mr. Phil Rees and she will be reporting on the new government and the wider political situation, including the war on terrorism ... in connection with a documentary ... Democracy in Pakistan: The High Price of Freedom," Ms. Malik said.
The first report of the abduction appeared Tuesday in The News International, an English-language Pakistani newspaper. That story was quickly picked up by other news agencies and began circulating on the Internet. Ms. Malik said that as of yesterday morning, the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa had not heard from the Department of Foreign Affairs about the case. Lisa Monette, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs, has confirmed a Canadian has been abducted and said officials are in discussions with Pakistani authorities, but has refused further comment.
On her website, Ms. Giesbrecht explained that she converted to Islam in 2002 after beginning to research the reasons behind the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "I became obsessed with finding out what was really going on," she said. She said she launched the website to provide an alternative to mainstream news coverage of events. "We do not promote 'terrorism,' we publish both sides of the news from primarily third-party sources and we operate within the law," she stated.
Glen Cooper, a friend for 20 years, said Ms. Giesbrecht has been attacked for the pro-Islamic slant on her website, but she is not a propagandist. "Bev is a reporter," he said.
Peter Ladner, who is running for mayor in Vancouver, said he met Ms. Giesbrecht in 1988, when she worked for him as sales manager for the monthly magazine Vancouver Business Report, a publication she later bought. "I'm extremely shocked," he said of her abduction. He described her as a "very tough woman," but added he is deeply worried about her safety. "It doesn't look good," he said.