Austria has turned to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to negotiate a deal on the release of the two Austrian tourists kidnapped last month in Tunisia, local media reported Monday.
Austrian Radio and TV (ORF) confirmed that Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer had called Gaddafi many times Friday, asking for his assistance.
Kidnappers linked to al-Qaida have set a 5-million-euro (about 8.3 million U.S. dollars) ransom on the two Austrian tourists while demanding the release of 10 members of the terrorist group jailed in Tunisia and Algeria.
The original deadline has been postponed from midnight Sunday for a possible deal.
The two Austrians identified as Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 44, were abducted by an armed group in Tunisia on Feb. 22. Some reports said they are being held in Mali.
On Monday, Gaddafi called Malian President Amadou Toumani Touriand discussed "regional issues," according to the Austrian daily newspaper Kurier.
Anton Prohaska, the former Austrian ambassador to France, was reportedly appointed to coordinate the settlement of the crisis.
The former Austrian foreign minister, Willibald Pahr, told Kurier, "I cannot imagine the situation of this difficult task, he(Anton Prohaska) has the best experience in the field of negotiation."
Source:Xinhua
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