France24: Al Qaeda demands 90m for hostages
By News Wires the 21/03/2011 - 15:17
The al Qaeda branch that operates in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is demanding
90 million from France in return for the release of four hostages kidnapped in
Niger in September. The group is also demanding the release of several AQIM
members.
AFP Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is demanding at least 90 million
euros in ransom for the release of four French hostages held since September, a
source close to mediators said Monday.
The French people were kidnapped in September 2010 in neighbouring Niger, where
France has a large stake in uranium mining, and are still being held hostage in
the desert.
"The kidnappers are demanding at least 90 million euros (128 million dollars)
to release the four French hostages still being held," said the Niger source
close to talks taking place in northern Mali.
"They also want the release of AQIM prisoners taken in several countries,
including France," the source said.
"I can tell you that everyone is mobilised to obtain the release of the
hostages," the source added.
The four were among seven hostages seized in September in the uranium-mining
town of Arlit in Niger and then taken into Mali.
They included an executive of French nuclear giant Areva and his wife, while
the other five men worked for an Areva subsidiary.
The seven included five French nationals, a Togolese and a Madagascan. The
latter two and the French woman were freed on February 25, after a ransom was
paid, according to a source close to negotiations.
The group's abduction was claimed by AQIM, whose leader warned France to pull
its troops out of Afghanistan if it wanted to see the safe return of the French
hostages.
AQIM on November 18 urged France to negotiate the fate of the captives with
Osama Bin Laden directly, but Paris rejected this demand, stating that its
foreign policy would not be dictated from outside.
The north African branch of Al-Qaeda operates in a vast desert area across
Algeria, Mauritania, Mali and Niger, where it carries out attacks, trafficking
and kidnapping of Westerners.
On March 4 the chairwoman of the Areva group, Anne Lauvergeon, said that she
had "high hopes" of seeing the remaining French hostages returning to France
"as soon as possible."
Source URL:
http://www.france24.com/en/20110321-al-qaeda-demands-90-million-ransom-french-hostages-kidnapped-niger-aqim
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