AQIM have offered to free the South African/British guy in exchange for the freedom of UK-based radical preacher Abu Qatada. The British government has been trying to extradite Qatada to Jordan for years but has been held back by the European court of human rights. AQIM will know that it is highly unlikely that an exchange can take place - less likely even than a ransom being paid. The tension will be made higher in the UK owing to a British Red Cross medic who was kidnapped and then beheaded by the Taliban in Pakistan over the weekend. In summary, given these complications, release from AQIM captivity is becoming more complicated every year and seemingly with each episode. The 2003 releases were positively quick (3 and 6 months) compared with now. All in all it suggests AQIM are not short of cash either. I put these details here as individuals need to weigh these kind of things up when travelling in the broader region.
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