THE TELEGRAPH: A British hostage Edwin Dyer has been executed by Al-Qaeda's North African branch in Mali, according to a statement issued by Gordon Brown.
"We have strong reason to believe that a British citizen, Edwin Dyer, has been murdered by an Al-Qaeda cell in Mali. I utterly condemn this appalling and barbaric act of terrorism," Mr Brown said in a statement.
"This tragedy reinforces our commitment to confront terrorism. It strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms.
"I want those who would use terror against British citizens to know beyond doubt that we and our allies will pursue them relentlessly, and that they will meet the justice they deserve."
One report suggested that Mr Dyer had been beheaded but a statement from al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) did not say how he was killed.
The group had threatened to kill Mr Dyer if the UK Government did not release Jordanian extremist Abu Qatada, who has been in prison since 2005 and is awaiting deportation to Jordan. A multimillion-euro ransom is also thought to have been demanded.
AQIM "killed Dyer on May 31, finding that Britain is unresponsive and does not seem to care for its citizens", the US-based monitoring SITE group quoted an online statement as saying. >>> | Wednesday, June 03, 2009
