(NEWSER) – Brit Edwin Dyer was kidnapped in 2009 by al-Qaeda in North Africa, along with a German and a Swiss couple. Like the US, Britain doesn’t pay ransoms and didn’t in this case—and Dyer was killed. But his fellow captives were released after their governments paid al-Qaeda a collective $10.7 million; that same year, Swiss lawmakers added a line item in their budget for humanitarian aid … code for ransom money, reports the New York Times.
European governments—mostly France, Spain, and Switzerland—routinely pay al-Qaeda ransoms for captive citizens, else they be killed. In short, “Europe has become an inadvertent underwriter” of the terror group, writes Rukmini Callimachi. And it’s big money: about $125 million since 2008 and $66 million last year alone.
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image: sodahead
Those too stupid to remember (or even learn) their history will be condemned to repeat it.
If you feed the seagulls. You get more seagulls.
“mostly France, Spain, and Switzerland—routinely pay al-Qaeda”, why am I not surprised. By doing this they undermine a collective effort of the West to discourage this kidnap industry. One can only hope that the terrorists decide to make the process more efficient by ONLY kidnapping people from these countries as they know they’ll end up wasting resources and taking needless chances kidnapping anyone else.
Most of the Euros pay ransom and bribes. So do the Egyptians