ANP forces deploy on Mali border as “ultimatum” about kidnapped Algerian diplomats to expire shortly

Reliable sources told Echorouk that ANP forces, backed by airborne troops on board helicopters, have been deployed on the southern borders with Mali as the 30-day ultimatum set for the release of the 7 Algerian diplomats kidnapped by an extremist group in Gao in north-eastern Mali on April 5th is about to expire.

• The ultimatum set by the kidnappers from the so-called extremist group “Mujao” will expire on June 8^th 2012 and the Algerian armed forces’ deployment on the southern border with Mali is designed to face up to any untoward contingency with regard to the preservation of the safety of the hostages.
• The same sources also indicated that a lightning military operation aimed at liberating the abducted Algerian diplomats including the Consul was not to be ruled out altogether.
• Such a salvaging operation foreseen as a possible option by the Algerian military is being backed by many Touaregs belonging to the National Azawad Movement (MNLA) after the failure of a recent mediation mission carried out by Touareg chieftains with the Mujao kidnappers who refused to set free their captives and stuck to their ransom demands, the same sources added.

• A text from the so-called “Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa” (MUJAO), said last month: “We are issuing an ultimatum of less than 30 days to the Algerian government to meet our demands, or the lives of the hostages will be in great danger,”

• “The hostages are still alive,” added the statement, which was written by spokesman Adnan Abu Walid Sahraoui and sent to AFP.

• “The Algerian government knows our demands … There is still time for talks. Afterwards, it will be late”, he added.

• The group, an offshoot of “al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM), abducted the Algerian consul and six members of his staff from Gao, northeastern Mali, on April 5.

• On May 2, it called on the Algerian authorities to release an unspecified number of detained Islamists and pay a ransom of 15 million euros ($19.5 million). So far, Algiers had failed to meet those demands, said the statement.

• The same extremist group claimed the abduction last October of three aid workers from a camp for Sahrawi refugees near Tindouf in western Algeria: two Spanish nationals, a man and a woman; and an Italian woman.

• They have demanded 30 million euros and the release of two Sahrawis held in Mauritania in return for the two women being held. He made no mention of the Spanish male hostage.