Should Qatada Have Made His Plea?
Discussion
From BBC news:"Radical cleric Abu Qatada, detained since 2002, urged the kidnappers to free the men "in line with the principle of mercy of our religion".
Abu Qatada, who is being held at Full Sutton jail, near York, had volunteered to be filmed, the Foreign Office said.
Mr Kember, 74, of Pinner, London, was seized in Baghdad on 26 November.
The kidnappers claim to belong to a group called the Swords of Truth.
On Thursday, Arabic TV station al-Jazeera said the kidnappers had extended a deadline they set, under which the four men would be executed, by 48 hours until Saturday"
Do you think it was right to allow an extremist like Qatada, who was described by a judge to be very dangerous, to make a high profile televised plea?
I personnaly oppose such a move , but many people might think it's worth doing anything to save the lives of the hostages, including cooperating with terrorists.
Here's a link for yesterday's news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4506970.stm
Abu Qatada, who is being held at Full Sutton jail, near York, had volunteered to be filmed, the Foreign Office said.
Mr Kember, 74, of Pinner, London, was seized in Baghdad on 26 November.
The kidnappers claim to belong to a group called the Swords of Truth.
On Thursday, Arabic TV station al-Jazeera said the kidnappers had extended a deadline they set, under which the four men would be executed, by 48 hours until Saturday"
Do you think it was right to allow an extremist like Qatada, who was described by a judge to be very dangerous, to make a high profile televised plea?
I personnaly oppose such a move , but many people might think it's worth doing anything to save the lives of the hostages, including cooperating with terrorists.
Here's a link for yesterday's news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4506970.stm
Depends if it works.
I couldn't give 2 fingers of fudge for what he says it's what the others do that matters and who knows what they are thinking or planning. Hostage taking hasn't worked so do they expect it to ever, or are they just doing it for impact and keeping themselves in the news?
I couldn't give 2 fingers of fudge for what he says it's what the others do that matters and who knows what they are thinking or planning. Hostage taking hasn't worked so do they expect it to ever, or are they just doing it for impact and keeping themselves in the news?
scorp said:
Wouldnt the nutcases in Iraq assume that he was made to make those statements under duress. Not too different from the hostages. I could see this making the situation possibly worse.
Well apparently Qatada volunteered to make the plea which started by "MY BROTHERS....." or something like that.The man incites crime and suicide bombing against us "the infidels", and we allow him an opportunity to appear human.Something is wrong there surely , don't you think?
allnighter said:
Wouldnt the nutcases in Iraq assume that he was made to make those statements under duress. Not too different from the hostages. I could see this making the situation possibly worse.
Well apparently Qatada volunteered to make the plea which started by "MY BROTHERS....." or something like that.The man incites crime and suicide bombing against us "the infidels", and we allow him an opportunity to appear human.Something is wrong there surely , don't you think?
true,
but he's not going anywhere (except to his extradition destination)...might as well get something useful out of him. Plus, if he does command any degree of respect amongst the insurgents, they might take less hostages in future. (wishful thinking probably)
It certainly shouldnt buy him any clemency.
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