 | Victim Daniel Pearl | Main suspect Saeed Sheikh |
American Bela Nuss knows only too well about the fanaticism that drives theIslamic militants who murdered reporter Daniel Pearl. Eight years ago, Nuss was kidnapped by a gang led by the same man who confessed to abducting Pearl.He recalls the horror of kidnappers holding a gun to his head. He remembers how one of them later laughed while being tortured by police. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Pearl's confessed kidnapper, was the frontman in Nuss' 1994 abduction, too. Friendly, well-spoken and intellectually curious is how Nuss describes the young British-born man who befriended him in a New Delhi restaurant and invited him to eat with his family. Traveling alone and keen to experience Indian family life before his monthslong tour ended, the then 43-year-old Californian tourist happily accepted. But the family turned out to be a gang of militants who chained Nuss to the floor of a stifling, mosquito-ridden windowless room, took photos of him with a gun to his head and demanded the release of comrades jailed for fighting Indian rule in Kashmir. Nuss was rescued after 12 days in captivity. But Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter abducted Jan. 23 in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, was killed. One of those extremists was Saeed. In Nuss' case, he and Saeed climbed into a car with men Nuss assumed also were going to the family meal. One pulled a gun. Nuss' mind reeled. Saeed sat beside him and warned Nuss to stay calm. "He was giving me the `everything is going to be all right line,' and telling me not to do anything because if I did there would be trouble," Nuss said. "As nice as they appear, and as friendly and as solicitous as they are, they change on a dime," he said. "It's kind of frightening because they're really driven. Like any religious fanatic, they're blind to a lot of things. They're so intent and focused." At the house, Saeed left Nuss with other captors. Nuss never saw Saeed there again. The captors spoke only broken English, kept him under constant guard and prayed three to five times a day, Nuss said. Their leader "made the hair on my neck stand up," he said. "He was absolutely frightening. He just wanted to kill me, I could see. I knew he was going to kill me in a second when the time came." That time never came. Indian police broke into the house and freed Nuss. He told police that Saeed had said they also were holding three British tourists. The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. Nuss, now aged 51, said the lead captor taunted police who tried to force him to reveal where the Britons were. The Britons were freed unharmed. Saeed was arrested and held until Dec. 1999, when India exchanged him for passengers on an Indian Airlines jet hijacked to Afghanistan. Note:
on a dime: all of a sudden; immediately(Agencies) | 美国人贝拉·努斯对前些天杀害了美国记者丹尼·珀尔的伊斯兰极端狂热分子实在是太了解了，因为就在八年前，努斯也曾遭到这伙人的绑架，而这伙人的头目和此次珀尔绑架案的主犯正是同一个人。 努斯回忆了当时被帮匪用枪指着脑袋时的可怕情景。他还记得，后来这帮家伙中的一个在警察对他进行拷问的时候竟然哈哈大笑。 自称是珀尔绑架案的主犯艾哈迈德·奥马尔·赛义德·谢赫正是1994年绑架努斯的那伙人的头目。 努斯和英国出生的赛义德是在印度新德里的一家餐馆里相遇的，并受到赛义德朋友般的招待。努斯形容赛义德是个友好的、善于言辞的、好学的年轻人，他邀请努斯到他家里吃饭。当时努斯正在一个人旅行，他很想在结束为期一个月的旅行之前体验一下印度家庭的情况，于是这位43岁的加利福尼亚游客愉快地接受了邀请。 然而迎接努斯的并不是什么印度家庭，而是一群武装分子。他们用链子把努斯锁在一间令人窒息的、蚊子满天飞而且没有窗户的房间里，用枪指着他的脑袋，并拍下了当时的情形，以此要挟释放他们在同控制克什米尔地区的印度军队的激战中被俘的同伴。 努斯在遭绑架12天之后获救。然而《华尔街日报》记者珀尔2002年1月23日在巴基斯坦南部城市卡拉奇遭到绑架后，（并没有这么幸运），却惨遭杀害。 赛义德正是珀尔绑架案中极端分子的一员。在努斯绑架案中，努斯和赛义德一起爬上了一辆车，车上还有几个人，努斯认为他们肯定也是准备去赛义德家"赴宴"的人。然而他们中的一个掏出了枪，努斯顿时感到一阵眩晕。 赛义德坐在努斯旁边，警告努斯保持安静。努斯回忆说："他（赛义德）告诉我说'不要轻举妄动'，他让我什么也不要做，否则就会有麻烦。" 努斯说："同当初表现的和善、友好、对人关怀备至相比，他们的态度急转直下。真是太可怕了，他们已经被宗教冲昏了头脑。正如每一个宗教狂热分子一样，他们对许多事情视而不见，非常地坚决和执著。" 到达那所房子后，赛义德把努斯交给其他绑匪，此后努斯就再也没有见到过他。努斯回忆说，那些绑匪只能说断断续续的英语，对他的看守毫不放松，他们每天都要祈祷三到五次。努斯说："绑匪头目撩起我脖子上的头发。他简直可怕极了。我知道他要杀我。我知道时间一到他就会在眨眼之间杀了我。" 幸运的是那个时刻永远没有到来。印度警察冲进那所房子，解救了努斯。努斯告诉警察他听赛义德说过他们还绑架了其他三名英国游客。帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。如今已经51岁的努斯说，当警方试图逼绑匪头目说出那些英国游客的下落时，那个人竟然还把警察们嘲弄了一番。
那些英国游客最终都被安全解救了。赛义德则被逮捕入狱，直到1999年12月赛义德又被作为交换被劫持到阿富汗坎大哈的一架印度客机上的乘客，被印度当局释放。 (中国日报网站译) |
Updated: 2002-02-25 01:00
