|
Libya paid five million euro ransom for Sahara hostages
Hadnât seen this before:Libya paid a ransom of five million euros "on its own initiative" to the abductors of 14 European hostages who were released this week after being held for months in the Sahara desert, diplomats said here Thursday. The money passed "neither through Malian nor German hands," the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity after the freed hostages returned home safely Wednesday in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Another diplomat, who also requested anonymity, confirmed the assertion. The money, the equivalent of 5.5 million dollars, was paid to the abductorsâ leader through an intermediary chosen by Tripoli, the diplomats said, without naming the go-between or stating where or when the transaction took place. Most likely had their phone number on his speed dial. Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, looking for "international respectability," probably made the gesture to "settle scores," the second diplomat said. A son of the Libyan leader, Saif al-Islam Khadafi, was quoted Tuesday in the German daily Der Tagesspiegel, as saying that Libya was intervening in the crisis through the Kadhafi Foundation, which he heads. A spokesman for the Kadhafi Foundationâs office in Berlin told AFP on Tuesday that it had set up a five-strong team in the southwest Libyan town of Ghat on the border with Algeria. Handy, itâs right next door. He said they made contact with the kidnappers, believed to be the Algerian extremist Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), and during an August 7 meeting were given a "demand" to pass on to the governments of Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In a statement in Berlin, the Kadhafi Foundation said its mediators accompanied German agents to the "final, decisive" talks with the kidnappers. "Our foundation colleagues were able to significantly reduce the ransom and overcome disagreements about its handover," the statement added. Just like they were old friends. Gert Weisskirchen, a foreign policy spokesman for Chancellor Gerhard Schroederâs ruling Social Democrats, indicated Libya had helped, telling German radio: "Libya is trying to return as a player in the international community." If one had a evil, sneaky mind, one might believe that this whole kidnapping was stage managed from the start. Last week Libya formally accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie and offered to pay 2.7 billion dollars as compensation to relatives of the 270 people who died. Britain has now put forward a resolution to the UN Security Council calling for the lifting of sanctions against Libya. Hummm... Posted by: Steve 2003-08-26 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=18021 |