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Islamist activity in the Sahara in relation to travel security Islamist activity in the Sahara in relation to travel security
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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
and schoolkids in Algeria



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 12 Nov 2013
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Expensive Business
If Areva settled the bounty and Governments are saying no pay, then pity the poor traveller who gets taken and has no big daddy company behind them to pay. The monies asked are way beyond any individuals/family's means. Maybe there should be some insurance cover that Horizons Unlimited can set up that we all contribute to at the start of our trips?
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  #2  
Old 12 Nov 2013
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Originally Posted by Magoo2 View Post
If Areva settled the bounty and Governments are saying no pay, then pity the poor traveller who gets taken and has no big daddy company behind them to pay. The monies asked are way beyond any individuals/family's means. Maybe there should be some insurance cover that Horizons Unlimited can set up that we all contribute to at the start of our trips?
Any time you capitulate and pay a ransom you up the anti for the next person. If these guys never get a penny ransom then the whole idea of kidnapping will be finished as there is no incentive. I would not contribute to a fund to pay ransom and I would strongly recommend no one else set up such a fund or contribute to such a fund.

Personally, I don't WANT anyone to pay a ransom for me if I were kidnapped.
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  #3  
Old 17 Nov 2013
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Hey Cruizer I get your drift. Just one question........ Can you tell us what you would do if it was your son.... or your daughter.... or your wife that was abducted and held???
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  #4  
Old 18 Nov 2013
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Originally Posted by Magoo2 View Post
Hey Cruizer I get your drift. Just one question........ Can you tell us what you would do if it was your son.... or your daughter.... or your wife that was abducted and held???
I really can't say unless I were in that unfortunate place. What I can say is if no ransoms were being paid now we could all worry A LOT less later.

Would stopping ransom payments totally stop all kidnappings? Probably not, but it would certainly stop the kidnappings for cash.
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  #5  
Old 21 Nov 2013
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They would probably shoot you at sight then, if kidnapping wasn't an option. Like they did with the French journalists when car broke down. But they are slowly being evicted from Mali.
Yesterday Belmohktar's second, a Mauritanian, was killed by French troops west of Tessalit.
Serval | Mali : le bras droit de Belmokhtar tué par l'armée française
And three French soldiers had their ear drums pierced by a mine on the outskirts of Kidal.
Hope they can get to Abdelkrim and his gang of tuareg jihadists.
One had hopes that tuaregs would be wise enough to come together to make their region secure and able to prosper. If the rebellion has taught us anything, it is that, sadly, they are very far from capable of governing their own land.
Last edited by priffe; 21 Nov 2013 at 12:38.
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  #6  
Old 21 Nov 2013
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They would probably shoot you at sight then, if kidnapping wasn't an option. Like they did with the French journalists when car broke down.
That is definitely a possibility. I tend to think though, that they would not go out looking for Westerners to kidnap in that case. It would be more crimes of opportunity or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Both of those scenarios can happen elsewhere as well so it then levels the playing field.

One need only to look at the guy in Paris who shot a newspaper photographer. That's not confined to just areas where the AQIM hang out.

Personally I'd be more comfortable with the chance I might be in the wrong place at the wrong time then having the AQIM out hunting for me for a ransom demand.

Remember, all those kidnapped for ransom don't get out alive all the time either. These guys will bump you off once you are no longer worth their while to hold you for cash.
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  #7  
Old 21 Nov 2013
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Originally Posted by cruiser guy View Post
Remember, all those kidnapped for ransom don't get out alive all the time either. These guys will bump you off once you are no longer worth their while to hold you for cash.
The first sentence is true - not all make it back. But I don't think the evidence of the many kidnappings in the Sahara since 2003 squares with your second sentence CG. My take is that the executions of Saharan hostages have usually had an ideological/political edge to them. It hasn't been the case that no cash = execution. In the case of the AREVA mine hostages, for example, AQIM were prepared to wait 3 years for the cash.

Also noteworthy, and as you've already discussed, you are very likely to be killed if you put up a fight early on in the drama. Thereafter (meaning a few months on) AQIM have tolerated escape attempts, shouting matches, defiance and so on without executing those concerned. The Austrian couple who were kidnapped in Tunisia and held in N Mali tried to escape several times. Once they got to a nearby village. They were not executed.
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LinkBack to this Thread: https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/north-africa/islamist-activity-sahara-relation-travel-49806
Posted By For Type Date
Sahariens • Consulter le sujet - Plutot des bonnes nlles d'Algérie This thread Refback 24 Mar 2019 14:34
Kidnappings | Sahara Overland This thread Refback 27 Feb 2015 11:11
Alex Thurston | Sahel Blog This thread Refback 24 May 2013 07:10
Early Perspectives on the Mali Crisis from a Jihadist Forum (II) | The Moor Next Door This thread Refback 16 Apr 2013 10:10
Laatste nieuws over Mali / Timbouctou / Gao- This thread Refback 28 May 2012 12:09
Sahara Overland ~ book reviews This thread Refback 30 Mar 2012 17:28
Sahara Overland ~ News Archive 2008 This thread Refback 12 Feb 2011 19:29
Sahara Overland News This thread Refback 28 Jul 2010 20:00
Fight against al qaeda in the maghreb - Page 2 - The HUBB This thread Refback 23 May 2010 00:10

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