According to some rumors, the Spanish tourist tried to avoid being escorted by stating that he had family in Tamanrasset and that he was visiting them.
They were 4 people kidnapped 3 Algerians: 2 Touareg guides, 1 Algerian from Algiers (a contact of the Spanish tourist) and the Spanish tourist.
In northern Mali, the 3 Algerians were released in the wild and terrorists kept the sole foreigner.
This is basically what the released Algerians mentioned, this version is being investigated as it is totally possible that the Algerian "friend" could potentially also have terrorists ties.
BTW, the kidnapped Spanish tourist is a guy with long hair (this is why there are conflicting reports stating that the person is a woman) and has origins from latin America.
Even though the Spanish tourist made a major mistake trying to avoid being escorted, it is still appalling that 8 foreign terrorists were able to enter and exit Algeria so easily over 400 km.
There is an ongoing investigation and I'll keep you updated when I have more news from Algerian sources.
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