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| Africa: North |
| Germany in talks to free Sahara hostages |
| 2003-07-24 |
| Followup to this previous posting, note the negotiations are dragging on and on and the hostages have been moved from Algeria to Mali. A high-level German government official has been in negotiation with the leader of Mali in a bid to speed up the release of 15 European tourists held by Islamic radicals in a remote part of the Sahara, a Berlin Foreign Office spokesman said Wednesday. Mali President Amadou Toumani Touré received special envoy Juergen Chrobog, a state secretary in the German Foreign Office who heads a task force on the hostage crisis. No details of the Mali talks were divulged, but the Foreign Office said, "The government of Germany continues to be committed to obtaining the speedy and peaceable release of all hostages." The Islamic radicals holding the European hostages last week transferred their captives from Algeria to Mali, where they are being held in a remote Sahara hideaway. Earlier this month a German newspaper said third-party mediators are negotiating with the kidnappers. The negotiators want to avoid a repeat of the special-forces raid which succeeded in liberating 17 other hostages, albeit with a considerable amount of bloodshed. What is up with all the negotiations? Why were they negotiating with Algeria on July 10 and now with Mali on July 24? And what about Libya’s deal with the kidnappers? Inquiring minds want to know... |
| Posted by:seafarious |
| #1 What? Eh? these hostages aren't STILL in captivity????? those poor germans, hope they get home safe and sack their incompetent government. They at least should be cured of Westerner Islamofascist Blindness Syndrome (WIBS). |
| Posted by: Anon1 2003-7-24 7:18:36 AM |