HuffingtonPost.com (exerpts):  Bamako, Mali - Gunmen killed a German man in Mali's most famous city of Timbuktu and seized three men from the Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden, officials and witnesses said, as officials on Saturday ordered a plane to evacuate foreigners from the tourist destination.  The Dutch and Swedish governments confirmed Saturday that their citizens had been taken.  A fellow traveler said the other man seized was South African and she met the German man.  Tour guide Ali Maiga was with the tourists during Friday's attack at a Timbuktu restaurant and gave the same list of nationalities.  A witness and an official said gunmen burst into the restaurant, grabbed four tourists dining there and executed one when he refused to climb into their truck.  Officials on Saturday evacuated foreigners from Timbuktu to the capital, said a man who owns a hotel in Bamako, where the tourists previously stayed.  He asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.  Germany's Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement that the killed foreigner is "with a high probability a German national" and updated its Mali travel advisory to mention the killing.  Also, Saturday, France's Foreign Ministry expanded the zone that it "strongly advises" French travelers to avoid traveling in Mali, moving the line southward from the Sahel region.  Until a few years ago, Timbuktu was one of the most visited destinations in Africa, but it is now one of the many former tourist hotspots in Mali that have been deemed too dangerous to visit by foreign embassies because of kidnappings by the local chapter of al-Qaida.  The groups footprint has grown dramatically since 2006, when the Algerian-led cell first joined al-Qaida.  Security experts estimate the group has been able to raise around $130 million from ransom payments alone.  

Commentary:  Approximately 43.3% Africans are Muslim, about 447 million.  Vast areas throughout Africa and the Middle East are predominantly Muslim and kidnappings, church burnings, murders, stoning, amputations and decapitations are not uncommon.  Jesus said, "They will put you (Christians) out of the synagogues; yes, the time will come that whoever kills you will think he does God a service, and they will do these things to you because they have not known the Father or Me" John 16:2-3.  If you are a Muslim reading this and you are tired of the hatred, killing and mayhem; if you really want to know who God is, please read the For Muslims page of this website, and if that great news interests you, please visit the How Can I Be Saved page.  God bless you.