Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb starts secret negotiations with Austria to release abducted tourists

In a message issued by the leadership of the North African wing of Al Qaeda, it was reported that secret negations are underway between the Austrian authorities and the kidnappers of the two tourists to reach a happy end.

 In a message issued by the leadership of the North African wing of Al Qaeda, it was reported that secret negations are underway between the Austrian authorities and the kidnappers of the two tourists to reach a happy end.

The message reads” a list of al Qaeda prisoners has been forwarded to the negotiators”. For its part, the Austrian authorities confirmed the news through its foreign affairs minister, Ursula Plastic who declared” The kidnappers got in touch with the Austrian side”.

If mystery hovers over the identity of the prisoners wanted by Al Qaeda, which hinted to “some Algerian and Tunisian detainees”, for security services the question is quite clear as concerns the Tunisian detainees.

The Tunisian detainees are part of the terrorist group which goes by the name of “Suleiman group” sentenced to on February 21st by the Tunisian authorities on charges of terrorists’ activities.

The group includes some 28 Tunisian terrorists and a Mauritanian among them the felonious Saber Koubi (24).

According to security experts, including Tunisian criminals in this list was intended to give a regional dimension to the movement instead of being an “Algerian case”. Al Qaeda wants to export its activities over the Algerian borders, convincing the world that the movement was Magreban and Algerian only.

But the Algerian authorities do not exclude the existence, in this list, the name of Amari Saifi, nicknamed “Abderrezak Al Para”, a top Al Qaeda leader detained since 2004.

“Al Para” masterminded the kidnapping of the Austrian tourists in the Algeria desert, released in exchange of a huge ransom.

The same source revealed that the disputed (GSPC) leader, Abdelmalek Droudkel has conditioned the release of the two tourists by that of “Al Parra”, considered as the most influential figure of the movement, in order to recover some credibility within the movement.

Security services do not exclude the possibility of including in this list the names of arrested terrorists involved in the latest suicide attacks carried out in Algiers and its suburban areas.

Al-Qaeda kidnappers, holding two Austrians tourists, issue a three-day deadline for their release

 Al Qaeda kidnappers who seized the two tourists in Tunisia last month are threatening to kill them unless their henchmen held in Tunisia and Algeria are released by midnight on Sunday.

Al-Qaida’s branch for North Africa on Thursday set a three-day deadline to meet conditions for the release of two Austrian tourists it claimed to have kidnapped in Tunisia last month.

In a statement posted on the Internet — which included six photographs purportedly showing Austrians Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber — al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa said it would free the pair if all of the group’s members were released from jails in Tunisia and Algeria.

 The posting gave Austrian authorities three days, starting at midnight Thursday, to comply.

The statement, the authenticity of which could not be independently verified although it was posted on a Web site linked to the terrorist group.

The statement also said the Austrian government has been informed of the kidnappers’ demands but the latter has said it will not negotiate with terrorists as a matter of principle.

On Monday, the al-Qaida branch first said in an audio recording that it was behind the Feb. 22 kidnapping of the two tourists.

The statement claimed the hostages were in good health.

Relatives reported the pair missing when they did not return from a vacation to Tunisia on March 1. The two were last heard from on Feb. 18 and failed to make a planned phone call to Ebner’s son on Feb. 25.

Observers suggest that the Al Qaeda terror group is now shifting to abductions in the hope of wrenching huge ransoms after failing to implement, at will, its criminal strategy on the ground given the utmost vigilance of security forces in Algeria .