Libya's Mystery Beach and the 21st Victim
Posted on Thu Feb 19, 2015 at 08:43:00 AM EST
Tags: ISIS, Libya, Syria (all tags)
Isn't it a little strange that with so much international press coverage of the beheading of the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, no one has identified the beach in the video?
Everyone reports the Christians were kidnapped in Sirte. But when it comes to the beach, no one names it. It's mostly described as "a Libyan beach." Some think the beach is in western Libya near Tripoli. Others think it is in Sirte. (The video says Wilayat (province) of Tarabulus, which means Tripoli, but a province could encompass other towns in the region, including Sirte. Still, Sirte is 460 km from Tripoli, almost a 6 hour drive according to google maps.
One person tweeted it is 7 km west of Sirte, based on the lone palm tree in the background here: [More...]
In 2013, a tourist blogger posted this photo of the Mina beach in Tripoli, which bears some resemblance.
I couldn't find an exact match for the beach on Google Earth -- there are a lot of beaches with a lone palm tree. There are also beaches in Italy, Greece, and other countries that look just like it.
Last night an ISIS tweeter posted this photo.
When James Foley was murdered, the media tried to pinpoint the exact spot, using geolocation and high tech software. No one seems to be trying to find this beach. I've looked at hundreds of beaches and can't match it. I can't be the only one who's curious. It is, after all, a major crime scene.
Some other oddities in the video: ISIS really must be eating their Wheaties because they tower over the hostages. How can they possibly be that much larger?