Al-Qaida's branch for North Africa posted a new Internet statement Thursday, setting conditions and giving a three-day deadline for the release of two Austrian tourists it claimed to have kidnapped in Tunisia last month.
In the statement -- which included six photographs purportedly showing Austrians Wolfgang Ebner and Andrea Kloiber -- al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa said it would set the two free if some of the group's members were released from jails in Tunisia and Algeria.
The posting gave Austrian authorities three days, starting Thursday midnight, to comply.
"Austria is responsible for the lives of the two hostages in the event of the expiration of the time period and not responding to our demands," it said and urged families of the two Austrians to pressure their government to meet the group's demands and "save the lives of the two tourists."
The woman in the photographs, said to be Kloiber, was shown wearing a blue headscarf and her face was obscured. According to extremist Islamist beliefs, showing a woman's face in public and in images is prohibited as un-Islamic.
Both she and the man, who had a graying mustache and a short beard, were wearing traditional Arab robes.
The pair were surrounded by militants with rocket propelled grenade launchers, some masked, seated on the ground in an open, desert area with some bush vegetation. A white pickup truck was also seen in the photos.
The statement also said the Austrian government has been informed of the mujahideens' demands and that they had handed over to unnamed "negotiators" the list of names of their detained members who should be released from jails. There were no details on how many were on the list.
On Monday, the al-Qaida branch first said in an audio recording that it was behind the Feb. 22 kidnapping of the two Austrian tourists, saying it was an act of retribution for Western cooperation with Israel. The audio statement claimed the hostages were in good health.
U.S.-based SITE group, which tracks militant messaging, said it had also intercepted the al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa statement Thursday.
Source:Xinhua
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