Ramblings' Journal

Al Jazeera shows another AQ beheading, this time supposedly of an American

New video from Al Jazeera this morning shows a man identified as San Francisco resident Benjamin Vanderford being beheaded by Al Qaeda terrorists.

The AQ-linked group led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the murder.

The man on the tape identified himself as what sounds like Benjamin Vanderford, from San Francisco. He sat on a chair in a dark room, his hands behind his back, trembling and rocking back and forth.

"We need to leave this country alone. We need to stop this occupation," he said, adding that he had been offered for exchange with prisoners in Iraq.

"We need to leave this country right now," he said. "Everyone's going to be killed this way."

The video then showed him beheaded with a large knife.

The video was titled "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Slaughters an American." Zarqawi is an al-Qaida linked militant whose group, Tawhid and Jihad, has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly attacks across Iraq, including the beheadings of U.S. businessman Nicholas Berg, South Korean translator Kim Sun-il and a Bulgarian man, Georgi Lazov. Their beheadings were also filmed and the video posted in the Internet.

Before he is killed, the man on the tape says he lives at 1510 Eddy Street in San Francisco. On his personal Web site, a Ben Vanderford lists that address as his home. The picture of Vanderford on the Web site closely resembles the man on the video.

There is no record of the Vanderford listed on the San Francisco-based political website going to Iraq, nor of him being captured.

Unlike in previous videos of hostage killings, no militants were seen on the footage. He was clad in a t-shirt, not the orange jumpsuit that other hostages have been dressed in.

On the Web site, Vanderford says he is 22 years old, and is running for supervisor of San Francisco's District 5. It also says he makes music for the label Record Label Records and is an independent video game programmer.

The video of the apparent killing also showed images of disfigured and injured people in Iraq. A recording of the Quran, Islam's holy book, played in the background.

As you can imagine, Vanderford's website, http://www.recordlabelrecords.org/ben/index2.htm, is overwhelmed with hits this morning.

This story smells. Bad.

Posted by mhking at August 7, 2004 07:58 AM