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| Africa North |
| We will not bow to Al Qaeda's demands: Austria |
| 2008-03-15 |
| Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer appealed on Friday to Al Qaeda’s North Africa wing to release two Austrian tourists but said he had no intention of yielding to the hostage-takers’ demands. “Our priority is the health of the hostages. Hence we appeal to the kidnappers to free the hostages unconditionally,” Gusenbauer told reporters on arrival for the final day of a European Union summit in Brussels. Gusenbauer said he would raise the issue for discussion at the summit. He said Austria was in touch with the authorities in the region, adding, “We do not intend to meet the demands.” Al Qaeda demanded on Thursday the release of militants held in Tunisia and Algeria within three days. The three-day ultimatum began at midnight on Thursday, according to a statement issued by Al Qaeda on an Islamist website. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said on Thursday that efforts were being made to secure the release of the hostages but noted that the demands were outside Vienna’s jurisdiction. In its posting which contained the pictures of hostages Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51, Al Qaeda said the demands and a list of the names of the group’s prisoners had been sent to Vienna through unidentified mediators. The group, waging a violent campaign against government forces and foreign interests in North Africa, said its members had been jailed for confronting “the new crusade against Islam”. The hostages, who went missing last month during a trip to Tunisia, appeared in the pictures dressed in robes and surrounded by militants in a desert area. Their captors were armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Start throwing every non-citizen muslim out if the butchers kill the hostages. In fact all of Europe needs to send every non-citizen muslim to their home of origin. And, NATO needs to leave Serbia and Croatia. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2008-03-15 14:50 |
| #3 We will not bow to Al Qaeda's demands---we will kowtow to Al Qaeda's demands! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-03-15 12:36 |
| #2 Don't forget that Austria has the Kurt Waldheim vote, which is a tad reactionary. While Germans tend to look with annoyance at the Austrians panda bear-like sloth, people tend to forget that they used to rule an empire, and a pretty arse-kicking one at that. Austrians + Hungarians = Muslims on stakes. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-03-15 11:20 |
| #1 Oh, you'll pay a ransom all right - or be unseated at the next elections for being Bu$hitler stooges. That's how it works in Europe. |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-03-15 00:35 |