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| North Africa |
| Sahara hostages freed through ransom |
| 2003-05-16 |
| The 17 European hostages liberated Tuesday in the Algerian Sahara from alleged Islamic terrorists came free after a ransom was paid, not as a result of an assault by the Algerian army, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported Friday. Citing "authorized Algerian and Swiss sources", RFI said that several millions of dollars in ransom was paid to free the hostages; 10 Austrians, six Germans and one Swedish national. Tap..tap..no surprise indicated Algerian media and the Algerian army had declared that the hostages were freed after a pitched battle with at least 10 kidnappers armed with Kalashnikovs. Nine of the kidnappers and one Algerian soldier were reported to have been killed in the fighting. "There was no assault, and there were no victims," RFI reported. Face saving phoney rescue? The liberation of the hostages was "only a step in the negotiations tied to a ransom of several million dollars", RFI said. In addition, the radio station reported that the kidnappers were not members of an Islamic terrorist group called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), as claimed by Algerian authorities. Instead, the kidnappers are headed by a shadowy figure named Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who has ties to the GSPC but was acting on his own, the report said. Ooh, a shadowy figure. Bet he has his own lair too. Negotiations were reportedly continuing between the kidnappers and Algeria, Switzerland and Germany to secure the freedom of the remaining 15 hostages, 10 Germans, four Swiss and one Dutch national. Paying kidnappers ensures it will happen again. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 My earlier post on this seems to have got lost! Mmm! I think we should be careful about labelling armed resistance to an Arab government as terrorists. Algeria has had an on-again off-again civil war between the Arabs and Berbers for a long time(Tuaregs are Berbers). Also tourists who are dumb enough to visit a war-zone don't get a lot sympathy from me! |
| Posted by: Phil B 2003-05-16 16:15:11 |
| #5 I did just check out the Free Officers Movement. They are not funny. But one phrase did leap off the page (re: the assassination of the Presidente): "an acute decerebration was caused by the several bullets that hit his brain". Acute decerebration. That was worth the price of admission. Otherwise, this is another place that needs a serious GPS survey. |
| Posted by: Mark IV 2003-05-16 16:08:02 |
| #4 Check out the new communique from the Free Officers Movement of Algeria at anp.org for their take on the "release". This website gives you a whole different take on what's happening in that tragic country. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-05-16 15:19:31 |
| #3 You know, if you're crazy enough to want to go to the Sahara Desert on your vacation, then you probably deserve to be taken hostage by the even crazier bastards who choose to live there. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-16 12:50:51 |
| #2 Sounds like these guys have found a new and potentially steady source of revenue. Maybe they'll start issuing coupons soon: "Ransom 4 hostages, get the 5th one free!" |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-05-16 12:38:48 |
| #1 Islam. The religion of peace. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-16 11:56:41 |