Status of Al-Qaida Spanish Hostages Unclear
VOA News 22 August 2010
There are conflicting reports on whether al-Qaida's North Africa branch has freed two Spanish hostages.
The Spanish newspaper El Pais and Al-Arabiya television both report that al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb has released the two men.
However, the French news agency AFP quotes a Spanish government official as saying the release "has not yet taken place." The official says Spain is still working on a "happy conclusion" to the hostage-taking.
Spanish aid workers Albert Vilalta and Roque Pascual were kidnapped in Mauritania last November along with a female colleague who was released in March.
Last week, their employer, the Barcelona-based group Solidarity Action, reported the men to be alive and in good health.
Also last week, Mauritania extradited to Mali a man convicted of kidnapping the three workers.
Omar Sid'Ahmed Ould Hamma was sentenced in July to 12 years in prison for organizing the abduction and handing over the workers to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks and kidnappings across Africa's Sahel region over the past few years. It killed a French hostage, Michel Germanau, last month, and a British hostage, Edwin Dyer, last year.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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