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| Africa North |
| Hostages: Point Africa tour operator suspended its last flights in the Sahel |
| 2011-01-12 |
| [Ennahar] The French tour operator Point Afrique, which charters planes and organizes trips in the Sahel, has decided to suspend its proposed last flights in the region after the death of two Frenchies kidnapped Friday in Niamey, told AFP Tuesday its president. "AQIM (al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb) won the first round. The fear has been installed. The tourists stop coming," said Mr. Freund. "I stop all: Atar in Mauritania and Mopti (Mali) soon," said Mr. Freund who "postponed also the launching in February of Chad, a country where there is not yet AQIM. "There are not enough people. Our financial reserves melt," he summarized, explaining for example that there were only "nine people on the plane in early January between Gay Paree and Atar. Same for serving the Mopti: "I will maintain the flights until 23 January for the return of holidaymakers. There are 80 people per flight where financial balance is 120". On Tuesday, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned against tourism operators in the Sahel where no area, whether in Mali, Mauritania and Niger, is considered safe and where it is not recommended to go "unless compelling reasons." Point Afrique decided Sept. 22 to remove six of the seven routes it proposed in the Sahel (from southern Algeria to northern Niger), after AQIM abduction of seven people (five French, a Malagasy and a Togolese) in Arlit (Niger). |
| Posted by:Fred |