| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Algeria: the army was unable to locate the kidnappers |
| 2011-02-05 |
| [Ennahar] Algerian army in pursuit of kidnappers of Italian tourists kidnapped on Wednesday in the Sahel region ... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas... south of Algeria has not managed to locate them, said Friday a security official in the South. The military "have not found their mark," said the source to AFP. The Italian, 56 years old, whose identity was not revealed, was kidnapped with her driver and guide around 6:00 pm Wednesday (5:00 GMT) in the area of Alidena, 130 km south of Djanet, the main town in south-eastern Algeria. Both men were later released, security sources said. The kidnappers, "fourteen men were traveling in two Toyota station vehicles", according to these same sources. According to the Algerian APS agency, the kidnappers have allowed their hostages to warn using their cell phones the boss of the travel agency who arranged her trip to Djanet. This immediately raised the alarm. In Rome, the Foreign Ministry has merely stated that "investigations were underway" on this information. The Sahel has become the stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb has grabbed credit for several kidnappings of Westerners in the neighboring countries of Algeria for several years. |
| Posted by:Fred |