ISIS Holding Norwegian, Chinese Nationals As Hostages, Puts Them Up for Sale
In the latest issue of the ISIS online recruitment magazine Dabiq, there is an image of two men wearing yellow jumpsuits, standing up and staring at camera with the message "FOR SALE" posted beneath them.
An Associated Press article identifies one of the hostages on display as a 48-year-old Norwegian man named Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad. The other is 50-year-old Chinese national named Fan Jinghui. A dark warning on the hostage advertisement says: "Note: This is a limited time offer."
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has confirmed that a Norwegian man in his 40s was in fact being held hostage in Syria, and that ISIS was thought to be responsible. Solberg said that although ISIS has asked for a specific ransom for his release her country will not pay. As quoted in CNN, she said, "This is a matter that the government is taking very seriously. We neither can nor will give in to pressure from terrorists and criminals. Norway does not pay ransom."
"This is a principle we cannot depart from in the face of cynical terrorists. Payment of ransom would increase the risk that other Norwegian nationals will be taken hostage," added Solberg.
In other ISIS-related news, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the man who has been the head of al Qaeda for four years now, has just accused ISIS's top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of sedition and made it clear that al-Baghdadi was not the leader of all Muslims.
Matthew Olsen, the former director of te National Counterterrorism Center, told ABC News that Ayman al-Zawahiri’s message was “pretty interesting.”
“Zawahiri until now has not been willing to openly condemn Baghdadi and ISIS,” Olsen said, “It highlights how deep the division is between al Qaeda leadership and ISIS. It suggests that the differences are irreconcilable.”
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