Mali kidnap search
26th January 2009
Security forces from Mali and Niger are still searching for four European travellers who were kidnapped on Thursday (22 January).
Reports say the group – a Briton, a German and two Swiss people – were abducted in a remote area of the Sahara Desert on the Mali/Niger border. They had been attending the biennial Tamadach festival of desert nomads in Anderamboukane in eastern Mali. The group were travelling with German tour operator Oase Reisen.
One of the three cars in their convoy managed to escape and alert the authorities, despite being fired on.
Malian officials initially blamed Tuareg rebel groups for the kidnapping. They’ve since claimed it is more likely to be the work of Islamic militants.
The Malian government says the kidnapped group have been driven into Niger.
The kidnapping comes only weeks after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised travellers against attending Mali’s Festival of the Desert due to ‘the increased risk of banditry and kidnap’.
Tuareg rebels, who are seeking autonomy for the region from central government, frequently clash with the Malian army in the area.
In 2003, 32 European travellers were kidnapped in Mali’s Sahara and held for six months. Two Austrian travellers were abducted last October and held for two months.
The current FCO advice says: ‘We advise against all travel north and east of the Niger River (along the line Timbuktu, Gao, Ansongo and Labbezanga), apart from to the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, and against all travel to the north and west of Timbuktu, and towards the western border with Mauritania. This is because of the increased risk of banditry and kidnap in these areas.’