[Sixstrings]

Gunmen in Bamako seize 170 hostages at Radisson hotel

Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako on Friday, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking, the hotel chain said.

Automatic weapons fire could be heard from outside the 190-room hotel in the city-centre, where security forces have set up a security cordon, an AFP journalist said.

Security sources said the gunmen were "jihadists" who had entered the hotel compound in a car that had diplomatic plates.

"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," one security source told AFP.

Malian soldiers, police and special forces were on the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.

The Rezidor Hotel Group, the US-based parent company of Radisson Blu, said two people were holding 170 people hostage.

The company said it was "aware of the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today, 20th November 2015. As per our information two persons have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees".
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3326668/Shooting-way-Radisson-hotel-Bamako-AFP.html

[Ayoob]

Hooray for gun free zones

Two people taking 170 hostage. Awful.

[davep]

Apparently there's about 10 of them. Hostages being freed if they can cite verses of the Koran. This is not looking good.

[davep]

Actually, there are conflicting reports. Reuters says 10 gunmen, another source says 3 heavily armed gunmen.

[onlooker]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-34877069

[onlooker]

I noticed that they said that the hotel was popular with ex-pats. I agree does not look good.

[SeaGypsy]

The Shahada- "There is One God, His name is Allah, & Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him, is the Last True Prophet of Allah." Just in case

[davep]

The Shahada- "There is One God, His name is Allah, & Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him, is the Last True Prophet of Allah." Just in case

Can you say it in Arabic though?

[GregT]

Can you say it in Arabic though?

And Google translate doesn't count.

[onlooker]

Those online translation services do not translate good anyway.

[SeaGypsy]

Hundreds of millions of Muslims can't speak Arabic. They say the Shahada in Indonesian, Malay, Bisaya, Hindi, Farsi, etc etc. It is the concept that matters.

[davep]

Hundreds of millions of Muslims can't speak Arabic. They say the Shahada in Indonesian, Malay, Bisaya, Hindi, Farsi, etc etc. It is the concept that matters.

Oops, I thought the ones in India were asking to hear it in Arabic for some reason.

[SeaGypsy]

The key words are all Arabic, Shahada, Jihad, Allahu Akbar, Taqqiya, Hajj etc. But the folks calling out prayers in the Mosques in full Arabic are often only mouthing the recitals, not at all fluent in Arabic.

[AgentR11]

agnus dei
qui tolis pecata mundi
miserere nobis / dona nobis pacem

I know the words, know the latin.
I don't speak any latin.

Its probably a pretty good "test" to weed out practicing Muslims to see if they know the Shahada in (likely horrible) Arabic. Now if someone is making a profession of faith, their native translation of such is sufficient, and honestly superior; but for a terrorist nutbar trying to act like a religious freedom fighter, going with the Arabic makes for a good appearance.