Ransom money paid by France ended up funding jihad in Mali
According to a former US ambassador:
PARIS (AP) - The former American ambassador to Mali says France paid $17 million in ransoms to free French hostages and that the money ended up in the hands of the same al-Qaida militants the country is fighting now.I think it's about time for European governments to recognize that paying ransom is not going to help one bit, and it's time to just move in on the terrorists like a battering ram and mow them down once and for all. Giving taxpayers money to the enemy does nothing to help end the danger.
In an interview that aired Friday on iTele, Vicki Huddleston said the money allowed al-Qaida's North Africa branch to flourish in Mali.
Claude Gueant, who was French President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief of staff at the time, on Friday denied that France had ever paid a ransom and said intermediaries had been negotiating to free the hostages.
France launched a military operation on Jan. 11 to help Mali's government wrest control from Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaida. The retreating rebels are holding Western hostages, including eight who are French.
Labels: Africa, dhimmitude, France, islam, jihad, terrorism, war on terror
