Nigerian Islamist group, Ansaru, that killed seven foreign hostages it
had been holding since February has posted a video of their bodies on
the Internet.
Italian and Greek authorities confirmed on Sunday that a British, an
Italian, a Greek and four Lebanese construction workers abducted in
northern Nigeria last month had been killed by their captors, reports
Reuters.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was "very likely" they
were dead, calling it "an act of cold blooded murder." Nigerian
authorities have thus far refused to confirm or deny the killings.
The silent video published by the al-Qaeda linked group dated March 9
shows a gunman standing next to a pile of bodies, then a series of
close-ups of their faces lit up by a torch.
It is entitled in Arabic "The Killing of the seven Christian hostages
in Nigeria." A caption underneath says in Arabic and in English: "In the
name of Allah Most Beneficient Most Merciful".
The workers were seized from the premises of Lebanese construction firm
Setraco in the remote town of Jama'are in the northern state of Bauchi.
About a week after they were taken, the group claimed responsibility
and said it was because of "atrocities done to the religion of Allah by
the European countries in many places such as Afghanistan and Mali".
The British foreign office named the British hostage as Brendan
Vaughan. An intelligence source in the Nigerian capital Abuja named the
Italian as Silvano Trevisan, adding that he had been suffering from
hypertension and heart problems.
The group killed a British and Italian hostage in northwest Nigeria
during a failed rescue mission by British and Nigerian forces a year
ago. Italy and Greece both said there had been no attempted rescue of
the foreign hostages this time around, although Britain has not
commented.
Attacks by Islamist groups in northern Nigeria have become the biggest
threat to the stability of Africa's top oil producer. Western
governments are concerned Nigerian Islamists have forged growing ties
with groups elsewhere in the region, including al Qaeda's North African
wing.
French intervention to flush Islamist groups out of northern Mali has
greatly increased the risk posed by Islamists to Western interests in
countries north and west Africa -- a risk highlighted by the dramatic
attack on an Algerian gas plant in January in which at least 37
foreigners were killed.
Ansaru declared itself a separate group from Boko Haram in January,
although security officials believe them to be closely linked. Its full
name is Jama'atu Ansarul Musilimina Fi Biladis Sudan ("Vanguards for the
Protection of Muslims in Black Africa").
British Foreign Secretary William Hague
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