(AKI) - The deadline for the release of two Austrian hostages held captive by an al-Qaeda organisation in Algeria has expired with no indication of whether they are dead or alive. The Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb had given authorities until midnight (local time) on Sunday to free its members held in prison in exchange for Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber.Ebner, 51, and Kloiberg, 43, were kidnapped in February while on holiday in Tunisia. Two previous deadlines for their release expired in March while the Austrian government continued negotiations on their behalf.
Their captors are understood to have demanded five million euros and were believed to have moved the pair to Mali, on the other side of the Algerian border. Austrian authorities have not confirmed whether they have received a final ultimatum from the al-Qaeda branch.
Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, an Austrian foreign ministry spokesman, said on Sunday that the government was continuing its efforts for their release.
But the Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb said in an online statement on 24 March that the new deadline was the final one. The kidnappers previously warned that any attempt to free the hostages would result in their execution.
In March, Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik told the media the government was doing everything possible to work for the hostages' release. "The safe return of Andrea Kloiber and Wolfgang Ebner to Austria is our uppermost goal," she said. "The federal governmentÂ’s crisis team is working round the clock. "We are involved in top-class networking at the international level."