BAMAKO (Reuters) - Algerian militants have handed over all 14 European hostages held in the Sahara desert for over five months, bringing relief to families and negotiators who hope to bring the group to Mali's capital Bamako on Tuesday.

Confirmation from Malian and German officials that the group members were safe and in the care of Mali authorities ended a tense 24 hours of conflicting reports on the hostages' release.

"This was great negotiating skill by the Mali president (Amadou Toumani Toure)," Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister Juergen Chrobog told a German television station from Bamako.

"The president confirmed to me that all the hostages are well. So that is also a relief, it seems that no one has been hurt," added Chrobog.

It was not clear whether any ransom had been paid.

And so ends the first summer time crossing of the Sahara via Algeria, Mali and the Tanezrouft by European tourists for some time! Timely for a new route in the second edition of Sahara Overland.......

OK for the new route , but it seems a little too expensive ( this kind of guide is not very cheap , and not very kind ) and little too dangerous ( one dead person ..... )

Dangerous yes, but expensive? Several sources raise doubts if any ransom has been paid. Seems that the Touareg were quite unhappy with the attention for northern Mali - we'll see if the kidnappers can get away...and probably German support for the Mali government and/or locals will do the rest.

Regards,
Peter

2 wheelers on the take....

Arjen Hilbers, one of 14 Europeans released in Mali this week after being held captive by Algerian militants in the desert, said he and his traveling companions were in dunes looking for a place to sleep when a column of motorcycles and some cars drew up.

"To our incredible shock, we saw armed men on motorbikes... My companion said: 'Those are holy warriors -- they've all got beards' and I realized this was no ordinary hold-up," he said.

The tourists were made to put their belongings in the militants' cars and then to drive off on their own motorbikes, each with a kidnapper on the back, Hilbers told a news conference.

Gulf News: "Libya paid a ransom of $5.5 million (BD2.7m) "on its own initiative" to the abductors of 14 European hostages who were released this week after being held for months in the Sahara desert, diplomats said here yesterday.

The money passed "neither through Malian nor German hands," the diplomat told AFP after the freed hostages returned home safely Wednes-day in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Another diplomat confirmed the assertion.

The money was paid to the abductors' leader through an intermediary chosen by Tripoli, the diplomats said, without naming the go-between or stating where or when the transaction took place."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3177071.stm

Sam.

Rainer Bracht is featuring some articles on the second group....
needs babelfishing unless you speak german:

http://www.nw-news.de/info/sonderthemen/to/index.html

so far just the lead up and the night they got nailed....

German nationals will be expected to pay for the costs of the rescue...
An overlooked reason for travel insurance?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3208138.stm

and

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click...1B265&set_id=1

[This message has been edited by Richard Washington (edited 21 October 2003).]

And about this payment I have heard on french TV that some of the ex-hostages have been entered in Algeria without visa ; via Tunisia : I supposed they have crossed the border in the middle of the grand erg .

News soon disavowed !

The ex hostages (but not all) eluded controls and several others current formalities, this yes! -as many are still seeking to do - but all got the regular entrance visa.

Releasing this kind of news does not help anybody and more the travels in the Sahara !

All of the hostages entered Algeria with valid visa, no one avoided formalities at any of the checkpoints they passed.

Please do not believe all the propaganda, the chairman of an APN (Algerian national assembly) committee, quoting "jewish dominated Tunisian tourist mafia trying to crush Algerian tourism", published May 14, is enough.

Regards,
Peter

I just got back from Djanet. It is clear that the Algerian military is everywhere now. There were 5 jet fighters in Djanet.... They ar epatrolling all the borders areas even smugglers are not daring to go in the forbideen areas. We felt very safe in the Tassili, there were a lot of tourists (French and Spanish Mainly) who arrived by plane. Not too many came by car, but we saw some French and Italian groups in the Tadrart. The French group had gone to Oued Semane ontheir way to DJanet!!!! The pace of the kidnapping of last spring. The border with Lybia is closed.

Interesting report about American base in Tam, etc: (5th heading down)

http://lincolnplawg.blogspot.com/200...g_archive.html

re US base, in February of this year, a few locals told me rumours about the impending construction of a base in Tam. It is true that at the airport in Tam, you will see signs for Brown&Root - this is the logistics company that supports the US military. It's a subsidiary of Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old gang.