On Monday, a shocking new video was released showing Pakistani militants beheading a kidnapped Polish engineer. The geologist, Piotr Stanczak, had been kidnapped in September killed after a deadline expired for the Pakistani government to free captured militants, stated a Taliban spokesman. The chilling seven-minute video shows the hostage flanked by two masked men. Off camera, a militant briefly engages him in conversation before three others behead him. According to the UK’s Daily Mail, “The video is so horrifying that some news wire agencies chose not to distribute the images.” The news agency added, “The video was given to an Associated Press reporter yesterday in north-western Pakistan on a flash drive by an intermediary who said he obtained it from the Taliban.” Although a number of foreigners have been kidnapped in Pakistan [see CHUP's recent post on the kidnapped UN official], Stanczak’s death would appear to be the first killing of a Western hostage in Pakistan since U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl was beheaded in 2002.
The Associated Press reported later today that the Polish government has promised to “issue international arrest warrants for the militants, and officials charged that elements within the Pakistani government shared blame for the killing.” The news agency cited the country’s foreign minister Radek Sikorski, who called the killing a “bestial execution,” and told reporters, “A crime was committed…so there has to be an investigation, a search for the culprits, and if possible putting them before the justice system, and an exemplary punishment.” The AP added, “It was not immediately clear what impact the warrants would have, because Poland does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.”
Justice Minister Andrzej Czuma said Polish intelligence had identified the kidnappers as members of a Taliban group. He said intelligence had “described the leadership of the group, their relatives, where they are located, their friends in Pakistani government structures.” BBC News also reported that the executioners were members of the Pakistani Taliban, and the Daily Times reported that the Dara Adamkhel chapter of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan [see CHUP's backgrounder The Rise of Tehreek-e-Taliban] claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and beheading.
The development is both horrific and disturbing. Perhaps more chilling is the message the Polish engineer made to his country on the video, before he was beheaded[see below]:
[...] 29, 2008 by CHUP! Editor – Kalsoom UPDATE 2/9/09: Taliban behead Polish engineer, see CHUP’s piece. The recent fighting between militants and security forces has dominated news coverage of Pakistan. [...]
Seriously, what big mf’s. My dad is so pissed that these people are killing people at will.
[...] }); Read more at: CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan andrzej czuma, arrest warrants, associated press, chup, culprits, daily mail, daniel pearl, [...]
@ The guards standing right and left are not Talibans
the one at the right of so called Polish is wearing
a very short Kameez, the left one different one
with an electric wire hanging.
Polish should have withdrawn long ago, now their
Min.of Justice repeating only US instructions.
Yawar, take it easy, is your Dad a Turkish Kurd ?
Rafays comments are getting more and more outrageous.. I’m not in favor of extraordinary renditions but in Rafay’s case I think we should make an exception. I hope CIA water boards him.
@HGW
You can never have (leave alone win) an argument with an imbecile parrot, so why not just ignore the renegade?
@sameer
I agree.. he is an unstoppable moron.
It means nothing at all. The “wire” hanging from the guy on the right is actually a string coming from his jacket. The length of the kameez also means nothing, It looks wrinkled, it probably got caught on the vest and pulled up as he was standing. And what’s the allegation if it IS actually short? That the guard tailored his own kameez, and since he’s an american, doens’t know how to make it like an “authentic Taliban” kameez? These conspirators supposedly could not find an ordinary kameez anywhere? There’s no logic or intelligence behind anything Rafay says, it’s just terrorist propaganda Kalsoom.
this story truly depresses me. I’ve always lived with an idealistic mentality that all men (and women) are intrinsically good. As delusional as this sounds, we can only hope since hope is what allows us to get up each morning and do what we do in an imperfect world. These increasing incidences really make me wonder what kind of conditioning the culprits receive to be able to tolerate committing such atrocious actions.
If these people who commit these atrocities do so with “justification” from religion, why do they not have the common sense of sensing that “there’s something very wrong about this.” Then the next question is, is common sense learned or intrinsic by nature?
Dear CHUP editor,
I used to enjoy coming to your blog and read your posts
which are always thoughtful, balanced and stimulate a discussion. If you recall, I even posted several comments in past and was wanting to in some posts on Obama’s policy, drone attacks etc.
But then I noticed the quality of discussion deteriorate on ALL posts to a mud slinging match and high school name calling, all thanks
to Mr Rafay Kashmiri, I didn’t feel it worth it.
He is an unbelievable person- seems to spend all his time on this blog, unfortunately without adding an iota of depth.
I am not sure how he productively contributes to the society he lives in -he seems to have no job except to browse internet for others who think like him and post on blogs, and brooks no rational discussion, except for advancing his conspiracy theories that have been debunked even in moderate sections of Pakistani society. I tried to ignore him, as many people here suggest, but he becomes impossible to ignore when he just monopolizes
the discussion, degnerating it to a fishmarket cacophony and frankly becomes infuriating when he puts down regular folks with nonsensical barrage of insults !
While I understand your reason for wanting to hear from him as an ‘interesting perspectives from other side’, can you tell me in which of his
last 50 posts did he put forth a rational point of view? Is “mate, wait
till water is pumped inside your yankee’s arse” an interesting point of view OR is “HGW, your f*****g language is getting to forggy,
mouth like Frenchy, smaller hole, but BIG MOUTH” insightful??
What I find more surprising, and frankly confusing is that you keep giving him warnings, but do not act on them and continue to provide him a platform to espouse hatred. He may bring traffic to your blog and instigate people to post in retort, but believe me it puts off lots more posters than it brings. And for heaven’s sake, why would you think that length of Salwar Kameej provides an
interesting point of view of the murderers being Taliban or not, when their purpose of capturing the incident on video and relaying it to a reporter is to spread fear clearly saying they did it and warning others!
And instead of condemning such beastly acts, Rafay just bad mouths others and even tries to justify it to ‘Polish should have withdrawn long ago’ .
As they say, if folks like him are not willing to learn from history, they will be condemned to repeat it. They will get what they deserve.
Pravar-
You are absolutely right. I went back and deleted my comment (which honestly was an attempt to probe at his madness, because there must be some logic present) – but you’re right, the purpose of my post was to highlight the crimes committed at the hand of these murderers, about which all of us Pakistanis hang our head in shame. This was an innocent man who was invited to work in a settled area in Attock – he was a guest in our country. To kill anyone is a sin, and to spout the words of Islam – what many of us say on the prayer mat – while doing it, is frankly an atrocity.
And Pravar, I agree with you. I keep giving Rafay a free pass because I believe this forum should be free for discussion – but I failed to recognize how his commentary and his spouting intimidated and turned off other commentators from commenting on this forum – that is damaging to my blog and to my credibility, and despite my multiple warnings (I can count over 20), he still doesn’t listen to me.
So, after talking to a few people that I trust, I’ve decided to take drastic action. Pravar, I hope it means we will see you and other commentators participate in more healthy discussion.
I second Pravar’s sentiments!
If anyone else wishes Rafay to be permanently banned from this blog, please say so!
I could easily go through all his posts and pull out many many quotes that are utterly disgusting and despicable. But I know that anyone who frequents CHUP knows exactly what I mean.
Please speak up if you agree!
Rafay at least explains your comments on the short kameez and the wire hanging, you delusional mad man. I wait till the day comes where you are wronged by your savage Taliban brothers, and you cry out for help….and please save yourself the trouble, by not responding and pointing out the following
1) My pro-US sounding tendencies
2) My ignorance on Taliban fashion (shorter Kameez’s are just not in this winter)
3) My CHUP name butters
all while using whatever retarded lingo that you pick up from watching your western movies/tv, and then openly bash people for being western by using your deranged version of the language.
Personally, I initially thoughts your comments were great for Chup in creating dialogue, but you lost the plot a long time ago.
See my point Kalsoom!
In each of his 3 comments directed to three persons, he just insults and flails his arms with strange rants. Frankly sometimes his insults are so full of stupidity and half understood gibberish, that you do want to laugh at them or sometimes feel sympathetic that this fellow seems to have undergone some real mistreatment in past to turn him into this!! But then you realize if you do that, you are giving needless importance to a person who adds NOTHING of substance, is not willing to listen or explore, and then by not banishing him, we are not doing enough to stop his nonsense.
I will certainly want to come to your blog and post if level of discussion remains elevated as several other posters here do. Sometimes I may hear things I do not like or disagree with, but I will either give counterpoints or not comment- but then that’s the point of a healthy discussion.
How does me condemning someone for chopping the head off of someone else make my Dad a Turkish Kurd?
I feel to see the connection, Rafay. Kals, I hope you ban his ass. He’s a no-goodnik.
*That should be fail.
@Yawar
Yea, I have NO IDEA how that makes your dad a Turkish Kurd, it’s just another one of Rafay’s insulting comments. Don’t take it personally, he’s called me both a yankee and a paindu.. so go figure
@Butters
hahahaha nice one
I think that’s enough votes to warrant a permanent ban!
Good Job Kalsoom. He somehow managed to hijack the discussion & bring the worst out of everyone. Anyway, he didn’t win….the voice of sanity did. So keep up the good work as you have quite a readership for a new Blog. Good Luck.
@Kalsoom,
as I claimed before about the short Kameez of so called
“Talibans ” further approves my valid suspicion on the
vestimental integrity of the Photo.
The two holding Indian made arms, are Indian
regular soldiers.
The writings on the banner in the background,
mentions ” Tehrik-e-Taliban ” ( baitullah, and Fazlullah’s
Indo/israeli trained Takfiri, Kharijits, terrorists recruited
in 21 consulats in Afghanistan). No one on this blog can
challenge my claims !!
the address ” Darra Adam Khel ” is absolutely fake, i.e.
these suspicious agents can not eve breath in the
sensitive areas of Fata just next to Afghan border.
Thanks Rafay, I don’t know if I agree with your assessment and feel like it’s irrelevant given the gravity of this beheading, but I appreciate you explaining your previous statement-
I am sorry I have to screen your posts, but honestly the moment your comment becomes derogatory, insulting, or strays from the discussion at hand I’ll have to delete it – I warned you a zillion times. That goes for everyone. It’s a bigger headache on my part to go through each comment with fine-toothed comb but I’ll do it if it means more integrity in the discussion and more commentators feeling ok to comment.
It’s upsetting to see that someone like Rafay ruins the CHUP experience (and all the hard work you put into this blog) for other readers and prevents them from engaging in a conversation. I’m glad you’ve made the decision to filter his NONSENSE.
Kalsoom,
I think the Taliban insurgents have connections with the international drug mafia. The type of psychological terror that these groups employ : public beheadings, digging out graves, bombing schools etc.. are known to have been employed in other drug infested bad lands such as Colombia or Mexico.
It is also the drug-money which is providing the voice of independence for the Taliban from its earlier masters in the Pak army. The drug mafia needs a peaceful place for the cultivation of poppies and opium, as the earlier areas in the Pak-Afghan frontier are damaged due to the NATO offensive.
This is probably the reason for the colonization of Swat (much as it is against the wishes of the Pak army). The local population of Swat are engaged in a dire battle for survival amidst utter terror. The Pak army has a choice of engaging in a direct battle with the international drug mafia (which is several billion-dollars rich) or try to look away.
The beheading of the Polish engineer probably has more to do with the disruption of the poppy cultivation than with some fundamentalist extremism. Please note that I, like any decent human being, don’t like fundamentalism. But this probably is not the culprit in this case.
Vakibs,
Fundamentalism is always the excuse by many of these groups, isn’t it though? They hijack religion and conduct acts of violence in the name of God when in reality it’s merely a cloak for other ambitions – a way to “legitimize” their actions or garner recruits or sympathy. For that reason, I’m sure there is something much deeper to their motivations than religious fundamentalism, but I don’t know enough about the drug connection to agree or disagree with you – I do think it’s an interesting connection, though, and it’s inspired me to do my own reading on the subject. Drug trafficking and terrorism have often crossed paths in the past, so it wouldn’t surprise me.
@ Vakibs
I kind to agree with you that all of this is either getting financed by Drugs or from Diamonds or from Contraband or from Charity. I read something that even pirated movies that you and we watch is a source of finance to these people. I mean organizations like Al Qaeda do not have there own wing that does the retailing of pirated DVDs but somehow they maybe providing some help to the people indulged in it and must be getting rewarded for it. If its true, its ironical that they are financing there acts from the things they want to ban in Taliban.
Well that reminds me a scene from an American escapist movie, Con Air, which goes like;
”
Cameron Poe:
I was just wonderin’ what a black militant, uh, that would be you… was doin’ takin’ orders from a white boy on a power trip. -Don’t you think that’s strange?
Diamond Dog:
It’s a means to an end, my white friend.
A means to an end. See… ?
“
@ International drug mafia is controlled by CIA and
run by Karzai group, Takfiris and Tehriki Batilan’s
agent, Since the Indian presence in Afghanistan
the drug activities have taken some significant
dimentions. UNO’s Anti-drugs reports have noticed
serious active production and export channels since
Afghanistan’s invasion. US anti-narcotics admits the
activities but reluctant to name those involved !!
surprise surprise !!
@ Fundamentalism, term precisely “invented”
and applied to, biblical religions by their
opponants during 100 years of religious war
in Europe, particularly between Catholics and
Protestants, can this term be applied on all
the religions ?
I was shocked at how little coverage this murder received on British television. When Daniel Pearl was killed he was all over the BBC and Sky News, but just because this guy is Polish none of UK channels seem to give a damn.
They should wake up and realise that this is a drastic development. If the Taliban could have seized a Brit instead of a Pole they surely would have – and perhaps will do next time. My thoughts are with the family of Piotr Stanczak.
@riverSrap,
behind Daniel Pearl, there was entire Zionist Neocon’s
world, Army, Finance and media, aipac, and French
pastafiori machine.
and who was behind Piotr Stanczak ? A Polish !!
his mother and
the Polish Minister of Sanitation !
@Rafay
This has nothing to do with Zionism, but I partly see where you’re coming from. Pearl was a prominent US/Jewish journalist and so had a vast network of supporters willing to trump his cause. Whereas Stanczak did not have this.
But that doesn’t excuse the failings of the British media. The BBC and Sky News are not supposed to be stooges for powerful individuals, they’re meant to be objective, investigative news networks. And they both completely failed to give this story the prominence it deserves.
[...] an end. (The deadline was extended on Monday for an unspecified amount of time). This followed the beheading of Piotr Stanczak, a Polish engineer working in Baluchistan. Countless others have been collateral victims of US air [...]
[...] an end. (The deadline was extended on Monday for an unspecified amount of time). This followed the beheading of Piotr Stanczak, a Polish engineer working in Baluchistan. Countless others have been collateral victims of US air [...]
Thank you for putting this up. I’m just wondering how many of these words were actually his own… he does have a gun to his head! This could be just a huge farce. It’s possible he was told that saying all this would be a passage out of captivity. Lets not forget that the Taliban are not to be trusted at all! This does indeed send a chill up my spine.
@Nabiha Meher,
do you believe it was talibans or US agents.
do you trust US and Indo/Israeli agents disguised
mullah’s dress, Lets not forget that IRAQIAN strategie
is being applied in Afghanistan, I hope you underatand
cheers
ab bhi na samjho gay to mit jao gay ay hindustan walo
tmhari daastan tak bhi na ho gi daastanoun mai…
n thats wat we want………
[...] Abdul Aziz, a former MP with the MMA, was detained in connection with the murder of Piotr Stanczak, a Polish engineer decapitated by Taliban militants in February. The AFP reported, “On July 16, Pakistani police arrested another man, Atta Ullah Khan, in [...]
Mr, No Man ,, Grow up and see the ground reality .. u cant even fight these illiterate talibanis and u are boasting on Hindustan… how many times u want us to prove u wrong kid… its time to accept Ur country as ur religion rather than this hindu , muslim etc etc…. it will take u no where…
hindustan ko keh rahay ho k tumhari dastan tak na ho gi dastano main… very ununderstandable after the creation of bangladesh.
anybody has to take the things possitively to remain within the dastaan. kashmir issue created all these problems !