Spanish hostages freed in Mali
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2010, Tuesday
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TWO Spanish aid workers kidnapped almost nine months ago by an al-Qaida affiliate have been set free, Spain's prime minister said yesterday, ending a hostage drama that involved several nations.
Roque Pascual and Albert Vilalta were kidnapped when their convoy of SUVs was attacked in Mauritania on November 29 while they were delivering supplies to poor villagers. They were taken to northern Mali, a remote desert area which has become one of the operating bases for al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, and were among the longest-held hostages in the Sahara.
"This has been 268 days of suffering for them and their families," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in Madrid.
The release happened just days after a Malian who was sentenced in Mauritania for the kidnapping was extradited back to his home country. AQIM had demanded his return as a condition for the release of the two aid workers.
The two boarded a helicopter at an undisclosed location and were taking off for Ouagadougou, the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, said an advisor to Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore who helped negotiate their release said.
Francesco Osan of the group Barcelona Solidarity Action, the agency the two aid workers belonged to, said they will arrive back in Spain later in the night.
Roque Pascual and Albert Vilalta were kidnapped when their convoy of SUVs was attacked in Mauritania on November 29 while they were delivering supplies to poor villagers. They were taken to northern Mali, a remote desert area which has become one of the operating bases for al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, and were among the longest-held hostages in the Sahara.
"This has been 268 days of suffering for them and their families," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in Madrid.
The release happened just days after a Malian who was sentenced in Mauritania for the kidnapping was extradited back to his home country. AQIM had demanded his return as a condition for the release of the two aid workers.
The two boarded a helicopter at an undisclosed location and were taking off for Ouagadougou, the capital of neighboring Burkina Faso, said an advisor to Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore who helped negotiate their release said.
Francesco Osan of the group Barcelona Solidarity Action, the agency the two aid workers belonged to, said they will arrive back in Spain later in the night.
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