B.C. freelancer made 'urgent appeal' to exit Pakistan before kidnapping

A B.C. woman gathering video material for a documentary in northern Pakistan had pleaded for help to leave the "war zone" last month before she was kidnapped in a tribal region.

On Wednesday, The News International, an English-language Pakistani newspaper, reported on the kidnapping of Khadija Abdul Qahaar, 52, of West Vancouver. Formerly known as Beverly Giesbrecht, Qahaar publishes her own web magazine named Jihad Unspun.

The newspaper said Qahaar was taken at gunpoint on Tuesday by unidentified men in the Bannu district in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan while travelling by taxi with a translator and guide. The area is near the border of Afghanistan.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Foreign Affairs Department told CBC News Thursday that a Canadian woman is missing in Pakistan but refused to confirm her identity.

Qahaar posted an entry to her online magazine on Oct. 22, titled "An Urgent Request From Khadija Abdul Qahaar."

'I don't want Bev's plight to be forgotten on the back pages.' — Glen Cooper, friend

"Pakistan is now erupting into a full-scale war zone. We have been in some very sensitive areas and even Islamabad is now locked down," Qahaar wrote.

"As foreigners, we must leave the country. However, we do not have the funds to get out.… I make this personal and urgently appeal to you to send whatever contribution you can to assist us to return to Canada and Britain," she wrote.

News of Qahaar's kidnapping came days after CBC reporter Mellissa Fung was safely released in Afghanistan after being held by kidnappers for a month. The Canadian media, including CBC News, kept details of Fung's 28-day abduction quiet until after the journalist's release, fearing the publicity could jeopardize efforts to save her.

Qahaar's friends in Vancouver told CBC News Thursday that they don't want a news blackout but rather all the help available to secure her safe return.

"I don't want Bev's plight to be forgotten on the back pages," said Glen Cooper, who has known Qahaar for 20 years.

"She knew that Pakistan was disintegrating. In the last few weeks I was getting a number of e-mails and calls from her, saying she was starting to get very nervous about the country and she just wanted to get this last video over with and basically get out of there," Cooper said.

Without the support of a major media organization behind her, he worries how much help the federal government will offer.

Qahaar has a daughter, Cooper said, but CBC News could not reach her for comment Thursday.

Gar Pardy, a former Foreign Affairs official, said Ottawa is likely to offer assistance in finding Qahaar.

"Certainly, it would be my expectation that the Canadian government would pull out every stop that's available to it in terms of providing assistance," Pardy said Thursday.

Cooper said Quhaar converted to Islam and took an Islamic name after the Sept.11 attacks on the United States.

She then set up the website, Jihad Unspun, which covers news in the Middle East with imagery glorifying those fighting against the United States.

She was in Pakistan to film new video to post and sell on her website, Cooper said.

"I had warned her that this is a very dangerous situation for you to be in. But Bev is Bev. She [has] her own mind," he said.