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Sahara Islamists release video of Algerian diplomat hostage
[Beirut Daily Star] ANI said it received a video on Saturday in which Mourad Ghassas, one of the Algerian diplomats, said he and his colleagues were in good health. He said he was speaking on April 9, ANI reported.It said that in the video Ghassas called on the Algerian government to negotiate with the Islamists to free them. ANI said it received the video from Al-Mourabitoun, the group created last year when MUJWA, the Islamist group that kidnapped the Algerians in Gao, and fighters led by veteran Sahara Islamist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, merged. ANI later removed the story from its website but on Sunday it remained on other Mauritanian websites. No reason was given for the removal of the story but ANI has in the past come under pressure from authorities to limit statements from Islamists on incidents involving Algerian interests. In a statement issued with the video, ANI said Al-Mourabitoun accused Algerian authorities of not respecting a number of terms of the agreement that led to the freeing of the other three Algerians. Posted by: Fred 2014-04-14 |
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