In the murky and conflicted world of paying huge ransom to free
hostages, there are no right answers and often precious little time to
make life-and-death decisions.
The grisly beheading of James Foley, the American journalist killed this week by an Islamic State jihadi in retaliation for President Barack Obama sending U.S. warplanes back into action in Iraq has raised the stakes in the grim calculus of whether paying ransoms frees innocent hostages or only makes others more likely to be seized.
Holding hostages for ransom ranges from common criminal enterprise in some Latin American countries, to the economic mainstay of failed states like Somalia where piracy flourishes, to a major source of income for extremist groups such as Islamic State.
A host of middlemen operate in the shadows, delivering and laundering payments, so governments and corporations can claim they don’t deal (at least not directly) with hostage-takers.
As for the families, they are often left attempting to raise astronomical sums while coping with nightmarish stress and attempting to stay inside the law which – for instance in the United States – makes it a crime to send funds to designated terrorist groups.
Those holding Mr. Foley initially demanded €100-million Euro (roughly $132-million U.S.) or the release of Muslim prisoners held by the United States.
Read more: Ransom payments are major income for extremist groups - The Globe and Mail
The grisly beheading of James Foley, the American journalist killed this week by an Islamic State jihadi in retaliation for President Barack Obama sending U.S. warplanes back into action in Iraq has raised the stakes in the grim calculus of whether paying ransoms frees innocent hostages or only makes others more likely to be seized.
Holding hostages for ransom ranges from common criminal enterprise in some Latin American countries, to the economic mainstay of failed states like Somalia where piracy flourishes, to a major source of income for extremist groups such as Islamic State.
A host of middlemen operate in the shadows, delivering and laundering payments, so governments and corporations can claim they don’t deal (at least not directly) with hostage-takers.
As for the families, they are often left attempting to raise astronomical sums while coping with nightmarish stress and attempting to stay inside the law which – for instance in the United States – makes it a crime to send funds to designated terrorist groups.
Those holding Mr. Foley initially demanded €100-million Euro (roughly $132-million U.S.) or the release of Muslim prisoners held by the United States.
Read more: Ransom payments are major income for extremist groups - The Globe and Mail
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