[Maghrebia] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Tuesday (December 8th) claimed responsibility for the recent kidnappings of three Spanish aid workers in Mauritania and a Frenchman in Mali, local and international press reported."France and Spain will be informed later" of the ransom demands, an al-Qaeda spokesman self-identified as Saleh Abu Mohammad said on a tape provided to Al Jazeera.
The Frenchman was abducted from a northern Mali hotel on November 25th. The three Spanish nationals, including one woman, were kidnapped on November 29th by armed terrorists while travelling in a solidarity caravan along the Nouadhibou-Nouakchott road.
During Friday prayers last week, the imam of the Nouakchott mosque spoke against the kidnappers, saying that "those who violate the peace in the land of Islam and cause trouble for Muslims cannot be called Muslims ".