BRITISH HOSTAGE MURDERED BY AL QAEDA IN MALI LONDON â Al-Qaida terrorists have killed a Briton taken hostage in Mali, the British prime minister said Wednesday. The fate of a Swiss hostage taken at the same time was unknown. A statement issued in the name of al-Qaida on an Internet site frequently used for extremist messages said the captive, Edwin Dyer, was killed on Sunday. Dyer was abducted in January and his captors in Mali had threatened to kill him by the end of May if Britain refused to release extremist preacher Abu Qatada from prison. Qatada, who remains in jail, has been described in Spanish and British courts as a leading al-Qaida figure in Europe. "We have strong reason to believe that a British citizen, Edwin Dyer, has been murdered by an al-Qaida cell in Mali," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement issued by his office. "I utterly condemn this appalling and barbaric act of terrorism." Officials said that Dyer was thought to be in his late 50s or early 60s and had recently lived in Austria. The message posted on the Internet had no video or photo to back up the claim and its authenticity could not be independently verified. But the SITE intelligence group, a Washington-based firm that monitors militant messages, also reported the statement on Wednesday. "This tragedy reinforces our commitment to confront terrorism. It strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms," Brown said. (read More) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/03/edwin-dyer-british-hostag_n_210714.html