As SFW reported a week ago, European governments have been bankrolling Al Qaeda and its affiliates by paying ransoms when their citizens have been taken hostage:

https://shariahfinancewatch.org/2013/02/10/former-us-diplomat-europeans-canada-paid-89-million-ransom-to-al-qaeda/

The New York Times provides a few new details…and the numbers involved appear to be growing…we reported $89 million a week ago and the Times is now reporting $130 million…

Europeans have knowingly bankrolled Islamist radicals with ransom payments since at least 2003…

The so-called global war on terror has been hobbled by these payoffs. The same nations that until very recently had troops in Afghanistan fighting terrorism have been turning over cash to terrorists in Africa.

Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups, mostly through mediators, to free European hostages.

European leaders were understandably desperate to save the lives of their citizens. But their efforts have backfired because the paying of ransoms has merely turned their citizens into a lucrative commodity for cash-hungry jihadis. Groups like Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa have grown accustomed to ransom payments and reacted by seeking to capture as many Europeans — from aid workers to volunteers to tourists — as they could. In contrast, terrorists know that America won’t negotiate with hostage-takers and is much more likely to use force to free its citizens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/opinion/sunday/how-european-ransoms-bankroll-islamist-terrorists.html?_r=0

 

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