A rebel group in Chad says it has captured one of North Africa's most notorious terrorists, an Algerian extremist suspected in the hostage-taking of 32 European tourists last year.
Amari Saifi and nine others were apprehended after a brief firefight in March with members of the Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad, and are being held at an undisclosed location in a rebel-controlled zone, a rebel representative said Friday.
Saifi, a former Algerian paratrooper known as "Abderrazak al-Para," is an alleged leader of the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, an organization fighting to install an Islamic state in Algeria and alleged to have links to al-Qaeda.
The rebels have sought to contact Algeria, France, Germany, Niger and the US about handing over Saifi and his followers, the representative said.
"The ball is in their court," Brahim Tchouma, the rebel movement's secretary of external affairs, said by telephone in Paris.
"We want to cooperate fully," he said.
A foreign government would have to work out logistics such as flying into rebel territory to retrieve the captives because the rebels don't have the means to transfer them, Tchouma said.
"We're not asking for money because that isn't done in these situations, but we would not refuse aid to help us fight terrorism," Tchouma said.
"We've done the largest part of the work," he said.
Saifa, four Algerians and five Nigerians were seized March 18 after a brief skirmish with the rebels, Tchouma said. Seven other Saifa followers, all Algerian, were captured a few days later, Tchouma said.
Saifa and his supporters, who did not possess identity papers, were identified after rebels contacted Algerian officials to confirm the numbers of several satellite phones they had, Tchouma said.
A total of 32 European tourists -- 16 Germans, 10 Austrians, four Swiss citizens, one Dutch person and a Swede -- were captured by extremists in Algeria last year. All but one, a German who died of heat stroke, were freed.
Germany has issued arrest warrants for Saifi and other top Salafist group leaders in connection with the kidnapping.
Tchouma said the rebels have been holding Saifa's band in secret to allow negotiations with Western countries. They are in good health and are under close watch, he said.
"We have arrested terrorists: These are people who have committed serious crimes, and must be taken to trial," Tchouma said.
"We said we would hand them over to all the countries who issued arrest warrants," he said.
Tchouma said officials from Niger last week proposed mediating a handover of the captives, which could involve a visit to confirm their identities.
The rebels, who control parts of Chad, began their fight against the government of Chadin the northern Tibesti region bordering Libya in 1998.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not