“Oneness” in that name is tauhid, the absolute unity of Allah. So apparently this group misunderstands Islam and believes that hostage-taking has something to do with the unity of Allah and struggle (jihad) on his behalf. How could they have gotten such a crazy, Islamophobic idea? Don’t they listen to Zuhdi Jasser?
“When you meet the unbelievers, smite their necks, then, when you have made wide slaughter among them, tie fast the bonds; then set them free, either by grace or ransom, till the war lays down its loads.” — Qur’an 47:4
“As for the captives, the amir [ruler] has the choice of taking the most beneficial action of four possibilities: the first to put them to death by cutting their necks; the second, to enslave them and apply the laws of slavery regarding their sale and manumission; the third, to ransom them in exchange for goods or prisoners; and fourth, to show favor to them and pardon them. Allah, may he be exalted, says, ‘When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth=Islam] then strike [their] necks’ (Qur’an sura 47, verse 4)” “” Abu”l-Hasan al-Mawardi, al-Ahkam as-Sultaniyyah (The Laws of Islamic Governance), trans. by Dr. Asadullah Yate, (London), Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd., 1996, p. 192.
“Terror group demands $37m ransom,” from AFP, March 4:
AN AL-Qaida splinter group wants 30 million euros ($37 million) to free three kidnapped European aid workers.
“The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa is demanding 30 million euros to free two Spanish nationals and the Italian woman,” a source close to the mediators said yesterday.
“Their respective countries know about this.”
The kidnapping was staged in Tindouf, western Algeria, in a refugee camp run by the Polisario Front which seeks Western Sahara’s independence from Morocco.
The Front initially blamed the kidnapping on Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
On December 12, a video showing armed men flanking two women – one Spanish and the other Italian – and a Spanish man was made public by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad In West Africa (Jamat Tawhid Wal Jihad Fi Garbi Afriqqiya).
Security sources said it had broken off from the main group AQIM in order to spread jihad to west Africa and not confine themselves just to the Maghreb or Sahel regions.
The group also released another video showing six dark-skinned, turbaned men speaking of their ideological references, including al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar but putting more emphasis on historical figures of west African Islam.
Also yesterday, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a police base in southern Algeria which left 23 people wounded according to the paramilitary gendarmerie. One of them was in serious condition.
“We inform you that we are behind the explosion that occurred this morning at Tamanrasset,” said a message sent to AFP and signed by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa.
The national APS news agency quoted the gendarmerie as saying that 15 gendarmes, five members of the civil protection organisation and three passers-by were taken to hospital.
One gendarme was in critical condition, the report said.
The gendarmerie said “a terrorist” driving a Toyota 4×4 targeted the main entrance of the base in Tamanrasset, 1,970 kilometres south of Algiers at 7.45 am local time yesterday.
The website of the Algerian Arabic-language daily En Nahar said the bomber was blown apart in the blast, which also caused major damage to the building.
It was the first time such an attack had been reported in the area.
The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Jamat Tawhid Wal Jihad Fi Garbi Afriqqiya) surfaced in December, when it claimed to be holding three Westerners kidnapped from a Western Sahara refugee camp in Algeria in October.
Security sources said it had broken off from the main group, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in order to spread jihad to west Africa and not confine themselves just to the Maghreb or Sahel regions….