Video: Iraqi Barea Nafea Dawoud Ibrahim Beheaded

Internet Video Shows Militant Beheading Iraqi (Reuters)

An Iraqi Islamist group beheaded an Iraqi contractor it said was working for U.S. forces, a video on an Islamist Web site showed Saturday. The footage from the group, Ansar al-Sunna, showed a militant beheading the man, identified as Iraqi national Barea Nafea Dawoud Ibrahim. The group said in a statement accompanying the video that Ibrahim was an “apostate” (a person who abandons their faith). It was dated Oct. 2. “I have set up three telecommunications networks for the Iraqi National Guard. I have been working in Taji since June 2004,” a frightened-looking Ibrahim told the camera. He was wearing an access badge issued by the U.S. forces around his neck. Two men later held him down and one proceeded to behead him, before placing his severed head on top of his body. “We say to all those who even consider working with the crusader forces that they should repent,” the group warned.

Militants have kidnapped dozens of Western, Arab and Iraqi hostages. Most have been freed, but many have been killed, often by beheading. The same group beheaded last month three Iraqi Kurds who were members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

While I understand the rationale of terrorizing potential Iraqi collaborators with U.S. forces, one would think this tactic would backfire.

Rusty Shackleford has graphic photos and a link to the video.

Steven Taylor and John Little have more.

Other press coverage:

Hostage slaughtered – claim (SA News24)

A militant group in Iraq has claimed in a statement posted on the internet on Saturday that it kidnapped and slaughtered an Iraqi construction contractor working on a US military base. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. The statement from the Ansar al-Sunnah Army said it had killed Barie Nafie Dawoud Ibrahim, who was described as “one of the biggest contractors” who had worked on water, sewage and air conditioning projects at the Al-Taji base north of Baghdad.

The same group has claimed responsibility for the killing of 12 Nepalese workers. The militant’s website on August 31 showed 11 of the hostages being shot and one beheaded. The Saturday statement said that after interrogation Ibrahim had “confessed to all the work and projects he had carried out at al-Taji … after that the (holy fighters) executed God’s law by slaughtering him”.

More than 140 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since April by a spectrum of groups, with some holding them for ransom and others setting political conditions for their release. At least 26 hostages have been killed.

Many Iraqis have been kidnapped, mostly for ransom, and an unknown number working for Americans have been killed by different militant groups. The statement said the group would track down those working for US troops “one after the other”.

Militant group claims to have beheaded Iraqi contractor (USA Today – AP)

Group claims to kidnap, kill man in Iraq (Seattle Post-Intelligencer -AP)

Saturday’s video showed a man identified as Ibrahim, who was dressed in a white T-shirt and black pants, holding up an identification card giving him access to the American base where he said he had worked since June. Then someone — his hands along visible in the footage — beheaded the man and placed his severed head on his back.

Armed group beheads Iraqi contractor: website (Xinhuanet)

An armed group has beheaded an Iraqi contractor, accusing him of working alongside US forces, according to a video released on an Islamic website on Saturday. “Any Iraqi cooperating with American forces faces the same fate,” said a statement attributed to the Army of Ansar al-Sunnah.The victim, identified as Barea Nafea Dawoud Ibrahim, had reportedly confessed that he worked on several telecommunication contracts for the Iraqi National Guard. On a footage of the video, the victim was seen being slit in thethroat.Last month, the group claimed the execution of three Iraqi Kurds and 12 Nepalese workers.

Iraqi contractor working with US forces beheaded (Al Bawawba)

Iraq’s Army of Ansar al-Sunna group posted a video on its website showing an Iraqi man being beheaded after “confessing” he was a contractor with US occupation forces. “I am engineer Bareh Nafeh Daoud Ibrahim … I work as a contractor at the Americans’ Taji camp” north of Baghdad, said the man, who was wearing a “Taji Access Badge” around his neck. The man, who said he had also worked for the Iraqi national guard, was later shown having his throat slit to shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest), in the video. The faces of the gunmen who beheaded him were not seen in the footage, but their voices were heard as the decapitation unfolded.

The man who appeared in the video Saturday said his work for US forces at Taji camp involved “building water and sewage networks and refrigerating equipment” and had been going on since June. “I also installed three communication networks for the national guard,” he said.

I note that none of the headlines are using the word “executed” anymore. Perhaps that’s a good sign.

• None Found