| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| S. African's Qaida Kidnappers in Yemen 'Will Not Execute him' |
| 2014-02-09 |
| [An Nahar] Al-Qaeda forces of Evil who kidnapped a South African teacher in Yemen last year will not execute him despite their deadline for receiving $3 million (2.2 million euros) in ransom expiring Saturday, a mediator said. Pierre Korkie, 56, was kidnapped along with his wife in Yemen's second city Taiz in May by members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Korkie's wife Yolande was freed last month with the help of the mediator from one of Yemen's powerful tribes and returned home. Korkie, who is in poor health, "is still alive and the prospect of his being executed is excluded," the mediator told Agence La Belle France Presse, adding that he was in contact with the kidnappers. He said the situation remained very delicate, adding: "They cannot free the hostage without the ransom." The kidnappers had previously set a deadline of January 17 to free Korkie, threatening to kill him if they did not get the money, but then extended it for three weeks. The mediator said Saturday that "if the South African authorities demonstrate that they are prepared to respond to the demands of the kidnappers, then we can ask that the extension be prolonged." In Johannesburg on Friday, Yolande Korbie again pleaded with the abductors for mercy. She said her husband, who suffers from a hernia, is too ill to survive the rigours of his captivity. |
| Posted by:Fred |