IS claims to hold Norwegian, Chinese captives

CAIRO (AP) — The Islamic State group on Wednesday claimed to be holding a Norwegian man and a Chinese consultant hostage and demanded ransom for their release.

The extremist group posted pictures of the two men wearing yellow prison outfits in the latest issue of its online magazine Dabiq. It identifies the Norwegian man as Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad, 48, from Oslo, and the Chinese man as Fan Jinghui, 50, a freelance consultant from Beijing.

The magazine lists a telegram number for "whoever would like to pay the ransom for his release and transfer."

It does not say when or where the two were captured. The IS group controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, and has killed several captives in gruesome videos released online.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, at a news conference in Oslo on Wednesday, confirmed that one of the hostages was a Norwegian man in his 40s being held in Syria and "everything indicates that (the Islamic State group) is behind it."

Solberg said the man was captured at the end of January.

"The kidnappers have presented a series of demands and significant amounts of ransom money," she said. "We cannot give in and won't give into pressure from terrorists and criminals. Norway does not pay ransom."

Chinese officials could not immediately be reached for comment.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-10

God help them.

Even if a country did pay, would you trust these monsters to live up to their end of the deal...I think not.

Norway says won't pay ransom for man held hostage by IS

OSLO: -- A Norwegian man has been held hostage in Syria since January and is now believed to be in the hands of Islamic State, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Wednesday, adding she would not yield to the group's demand for a ransom payment.

"Our goal is to get our citizen home. Let me be very clear - this is a very demanding case," she told a news conference.

She did not name the man but said he was in his 40s and had been held by several groups since he was first captured.

"The government is taking this very seriously," she said. "We cannot and will not give in to pressure from terrorists and criminals. Norway does not pay ransoms. That is a principle we cannot give up in meetings with cynical terrorists."

Payments of ransom would raise the risks that other Norwegian citizens could also be kidnapped, she said.

Full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-norway-syria-idUSKCN0R92GV20150909


-- Reuters 2015-09-10

The daesh have an online magazine?

How come GCHQ and/or their American counterpart don't mount a denial of service attack on these buggers?

Well done to Norway.......

Russian troops are now in Syria as "military advisors" with Asaad's military fighting ISIS.

It's only a matter of time that we'll see some of them become ISIS hostages and beheaded.

Wonder how Putin would react ... probably with extreme prejudice. Skies over Syria are gonna be crowded with warcraft.

Even if a country did pay, would you trust these monsters to live up to their end of the deal...I think not.

I think they would as it is good business for them.

Russian troops are now in Syria as "military advisors" with Asaad's military fighting ISIS.

It's only a matter of time that we'll see some of them become ISIS hostages and beheaded.

Wonder how Putin would react ... probably with extreme prejudice. Skies over Syria are gonna be crowded with warcraft.

pre- would be before the beheading.....

Go-Putin-Go

Beijing just said it also refuses to pay the demanded ransom.

The Boyz in Beijing tried unsuccessfully two years ago to involve themselves in the Israel-Palestine issues but got shut out when everyone told the Boyz it is far too complex and complicated for the far away Chinese to understand or comprehend. No one wanted the CCP Boyz fumbling around the issues of the region, to include Iran.

The Boyz have since focused on oil extraction in southern Iraq and a few other places hoping to be left alone.

The Boyz had to know however this would happen sooner or later and that it will happen again. IS fully knows the Chinese are not popular in the ME and in Africa, having quickly become the equivalent of the post WW2 ugly American. Beijing is not going to get much regional help or sympathy on this or anything like it.

They contribute nothing to the fight against IS. That the CCP Boyz are incapable of fighting IS simply adds to their irrelevance. The hapless Chinese guy is pretty much a goner.

I wonder if the Chinese treatment of the Uighurs will play a part in how ISIS deals with a Chinese captive? I believe the Uighurs are predominantly Sunni.

I wonder if the Chinese treatment of the Uighurs will play a part in how ISIS deals with a Chinese captive? I believe the Uighurs are predominantly Sunni.

Irrelevant if PRC refuse to pay for his release. Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, though ideological differences with Daesh, murder Chinese.

BTW Chinese mining company is in the process of destroying ancient Buddhist site in Afghanistan, kind of forgotten how PRC also disrespects Buddhism.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/11/chinese-company-taliban-battle-afghanistan.html