Kidnappers want to sell French woman's body

Posted October 21, 2011 02:44:44

PHOTO: Marie Dedieu and the Kenyan Island of Manda where she was kidnapped from. (AFP: Simon Maina)

RELATED STORY: Kidnapped French woman dies in Somalia

RELATED STORY: Kenyan troops push into rebel-held Somalia

MAP: Kenya

Kidnappers who seized a wheelchair-bound French woman who later died in Somalia are now trying to sell her body, France's defence minister said on Thursday.

Marie Dedieu, 66, and a cancer sufferer, was abducted in the early hours of October 1 from a private house on the island of Manda on Kenya's northern coast.

Ms Dedieu died, probably after her captors failed to give her the daily medication she needed, France said on Wednesday.

"You have to know that the hostage takers are even looking to sell her body... It is completely disgusting," defence minister Gerard Longuet said on i-Tele TV.

"Letting her get blood poisoning, which is what she probably died of, and then trying to sell her body (shows) that these people only deserve contempt," Mr Longuet added.

A wave of kidnappings spurred Kenya to send troops across the border to support government forces in neighbouring Somalia in a risky attempt to secure the frontier and its hinterland.

The abductions have threatened Kenya's multi-million-dollar tourism industry.

Foreign minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday Paris had been trying to secure Ms Dedieu's freedom and to pass medication to her captors through four different channels, but the kidnappers had not given it to her.

Somali pirates had said she was being held in Somalia. The Al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab militant group controls large chunks of the lawless country's south and central regions.

Analysts and diplomats in the region have warned that Somali pirates were likely to turn to softer targets, such as tourists in Kenya, in response to more robust defence of merchant vessels.

Mr Longuet said it was unlikely the kidnappers would be caught and face justice.

"The most likely is that they will destroy each other because it is a permanent state of civil war, (in Somalia)," he said.

Ms Dedieu was the fourth French citizen to die in 18 months after being taken hostage.

France still has eight nationals held overseas, including a member of its security forces in Somalia, three aid workers in Yemen and four in North Africa's Sahel belt, who will mark their 400th day in captivity on Friday.

Reuters

What a waste of life!

Meanwhile, in response to the Malaysian Press Institute’s proposal for a special course to prepare journalists for assignments in war zones, Bernama quoted Dr Latiff as saying that the ministry welcomed any form of cooperation with MPI.


“We cannot fight fate. If it’s meant to be, it will be, but the least we can do is go (to the war zones) with proper equipment and preparation.” The proposal came about following the death of BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, 39, while on a humanitarian mission with Putera 1Malaysia Club to Mogadishu, Somalia.

Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad.

What kind of bull shit is this Deputy Defence Minister trying to put over us? So now the death of Bernama TV Cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor is FATE?

“Shots were fired at the government truck that was accompanying their vehicle, Noramfaizul who was sitting by the door was hit by a stray bullet which pierced his lungs. Another cameraman, Aji Siregar Mazlan, also suffered injuries”.

No Mr Deputy Defence Minister I do not agree with you. The ambush itself is fate – nothing could have prevented it from happening. But what happened before and after the ambush is not fate – it is preparation. 

Was this unfortunate cameraman ever provided with survival training and safety guidelines when operating in war ravaged Somalia? If he had been then those safety instructions would have saved his life!

Putera 1Malaysia Club should have understood that terrorists consider cameraman “soft targets” to be used as political pawns for their own advantage – far easier to take a cameraman as hostage or to kill than to go after armed soldiers, diplomats or CEO’surrounded by armed bodyguards in armoured vehicles.

Reuters have a policy that states that no journalists or cameraman can go to a conflict zone without state-of-the –art training such as offered by British military specialists!

When this cameraman made that commitment to do front-line coverage for Putera 1 Malaysia’s club it is their responsibility to reduce the risk to Noramfaizul by ensuring safety issues were taken care of. It is a disgrace, if not criminal for them to send Noramfaizul into harm’s way without proper training, protective gear or clear guidelines as to how far he could go into danger zones in pursuit of a photograph to be used for political propaganda!

The Club President Azeez should be ashamed of himself! It is his  obligation to provide the best available training, equipment, insurance and counseling and to protect the exposed cameraman from all the dangers in a war ravaged zone before Noramfaizul even got onto the plane to Somalia.

At a minimum bulletproof vests and armoured vehicles  should have been provided – money and time should not have been a factor to not do so! No video is worth getting killed for ! Not even if it was to advance the political ambitions of this Azeez guy