North African al-Qaeda claims tourist, diplomat kidnappings
2009-02-18
In an audio recording broadcast by Qatari satellite TV channel Aljazeera on Tuesday (February 17th), al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the Niger kidnappings of two Canadian diplomats and four European tourists in Niger. The UN envoy to Niger and a fellow diplomat were kidnapped with their driver near Niamey, Niger in mid-December. On January 22, an elderly German woman, a British man and a Swiss couple were kidnapped along the Niger border after attending a Tuareg cultural festival in Mali.
In related news, Algerian security forces killed five terrorists and arrested two others on Monday (February 16th) in Tebessa, local and international press reported. The terrorists reportedly belong to the al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb group which attacked a military convoy in the Tebessa region on Sunday, killing four soldiers.
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