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| Africa North |
| Sahara Islamists release video of Algerian diplomat hostage |
| 2014-04-14 |
| [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 |
| #1 He smuggled cigarettes, drugs, stolen cars, diamonds, and people, using the money to buy weapons to supply insurgent groups. He also kidnapped for ransom dozens of Westerners, including diplomats, aid workers, doctors, and tourists from France, Germany, Austria, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada.[4][33] The kidnappings are believed to have netted him what the US State Department estimated as $50 million in ransoms for the Europeans.[17] The global intelligence company Stratfor reported that Belmokhtar commanded an estimated $3 million per European captive.[34][35][36][37][38][39] In 2003, for example, he kidnapped 32 French, German, Austrian, and Swiss tourists in the Sahara Desert, for whom he is believed to have received a $6.5 million ransom.[4][40] In 2003, the U.S. military had Belmokhtar under surveillance in the desert in northern Mali. Military commanders suggested launching a missile airstrike against him. But Vicki Huddleston, the U.S. Ambassador to Mali at the time, vetoed the operation, arguing that a strike was too risky and that Belmokhtar was not important enough to risk the possible repercussions. General Charles Wald wanted to share intelligence and gear with Algeria and Mali, so they could arrest or kill Belmokhtar, but said that he was over-ruled by civilian U.S. leaders. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-04-14 01:43 |