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.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he would make a decision about how the US government would refer to the body of water commonly known as the Persian Gulf when he visits Arab states next week. Trump told reporters at the White House that he expects his hosts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will ask him about the US officially calling the waterway the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia. “They’re going to ask me about that when I get there, and I’ll have to make a decision,” Trump said. “I don’t want to hurt anybody’s
RSS