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The Islamic militants holding a Canadian hostage in the Afghan-Pakistani border region have extended the deadline for their ransom demands to be met, according to an associate of the Taliban commander thought to be in control of her.

"But there will be no more extension in the deadline," said Qari, a close associate of Taliban commander Gul Bahadur, who asked to be identified by one name only. "They [the Taliban]are serious," he told The Globe and Mail today.

In a video released last month, West Vancouver resident Beverly Giesbrecht, 53, said her captors would behead her if their demands for $350,000 (U.S.) weren't met by the end of March. She was seized at gunpoint in the Bannu region of northern Pakistan in November.

The local government in the Pakistani region where we was captured offered the captors a lower amount in exchange for her release, but that was rejected as "too little to be considered," according to the Taliban source and a tribal elder negotiating her release.

When asked what her captors would do if they did not get an increased ransom offer by the new deadline, Qari said: "In this case, the old ransom offer will be considered by our shura [meeting of leaders] which will decide her fate once and for all."

Ms. Giesbrecht is a convert to Islam who also calls herself Khadija Abdul Qahaar. She published a pro-Islamic website, Jihad Unspun, and went to Pakistan last summer to conduct research as a freelance journalist.

Backed by the local government administration, a three-member tribal committee has been shuttling between the kidnappers and the administration to try to broker her release.

The Canadian embassy in Islamabad has been working behind the scenes with Pakistani authorities.

"We are in contact with all the concerned Pakistani authorities. And it is the prime responsibility of the host country to protect the lives and properties of guests," an official with the Canadian embassy said yesterday, asking not to be identified.

An official with the local government administration in North Waziristan, a rugged region along the Afghan border, said yesterday they were "making all out efforts to get her out from their [Taliban]captivity at every cost."

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