[paidleaf]

So did they or didn't they? Are they asking the readers? Is this our homework assignment that we are supposed to answer and turn in to the bbc?

Can the news start reporting on facts?

Read the article only to find out that we don't know who the kidnappers are, if and how much they got, how much cash qatar sent to iraq, etc.

Whenever I read articles like this, it leaves me angry and wanting to never read anything from the BBC again. What's even more frustrating is that the BBC is government funded and not dependent on advertisers and they have no reason to clickbait.

[jhpriestley]

It would be irresponsible of BBC to simply relay the viewpoint of a hostile state intelligence service without skepticism or framing, or giving the Qataris a chance to have their say.

Sorry, understanding the world requires engagement and judgment. Sometimes there's a lot of evidence pointing one way, but it's been manipulated and the other side is actually correct. When news organizations try to boil down the complexity to simple answers it doesn't go well (see: Iraqi WMDs).

In this case, the Qatari story is pretty ridiculous. They say they talked to terrorists about a ransom, then flew a large sum of cash into Iraq in secret, and then that large sum of cash was taken by some people in black masks, and then they got their hostages back. But it wasn't a hostage payment and terrorists didn't get it, it's being held in an Iraqi bank for development or something. This is a pretty far-fetched story and they probably did pay a large ransom, perhaps $1 billion or perhaps something smaller or larger, but in the same ballpark.

[cheez]

It's an interesting story. The only reason the information is out because a government hostile to the parties released the information.

[21]

How do you even authenticate the info if it's from a hostile government?

[londons_explore]

Qatar not denying it is half way to authenticating it.

Audio recordings get you 90% of the way.

Carefully checking transcripts and metadata for errors gets you further still.

Managing to get the same transcripts from the intelligence agencies of another country (either legitimately by asking, or covertly through "journalistic contacts") takes you to 99%...

You can never be 100% sure, but presumably the above met the BBC's standards for reporting.

[justsomedude43]

Where did they get the txt screenshots from? Looks like these Arabs communicate in perfect English among themselves.