Abducted Austrians reportedly in Mali

Tuesday 11 March 2008

According to Algerian daily Annahar, the two Austrian tourists who went missing from Tunisia last month are now held in Mali. Al Qaeda's North African branch claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Al Qaeda’s North African branch has claimed the abduction of a couple of Austrian tourists in Tunisia on February 22, in a recording broadcast March 10 on Al-Jazeera. The alleged victims are tax consultant Wolfgang Ebner, 51 and his companion, Andrea Kloiber, 43, who went missing while touring the south of Tunisia in mid-February. If the abduction -- claimed by al Qaeda in North Africa -- is confirmed, this would mean that the Islamist group has expanded in the region as speculated.

After searching the area in vain, Tunisian authorities said they doubted a kidnapping occurred in their territory.

The Austrian government said on Tuesday it was examining a new message from the apparent kidnappers.  Interior ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia told a news onference the message on a Web site overnight included correct passport data for the couple. "It is evidence but not proof," he said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Peter Launsky told the news conference: "The message ... threatened consequences in the case of military action." Launsky said close contact was being maintained with the governments of Algeria and Tunisia with a "plea to refrain from possible military action".

According to the Algerian newspaper Annahar, “the kidnapped tourists were transferred to Algeria. The kidnappers crossed the border between Tebessa and Oued Souf (East)”. The daily adds in its latest Internet edition that the group then crossed into Libya before settling in Mali.

Since it swore allegiance to al Qaeda in September 2006, al Qaeda in North Africa, which grew out of the Algerian Salafist GSPC group, has planned to expand and spread throughout the region. If the Austrian tourists were indeed abducted, the group’s expansion would be confirmed. “Today’s events prove al Qaeda in North Africa’s project to expand,” said terror expert Anne Giudicelli. “The movement could spread as far as Libya and include what is called the ‘Greater Maghreb.’”

“Bypassed” security measures

And yet Tunisia has increased security measures in recent years. In April 2002 al Qaeda in North Africa claimed an attack on the oldest synagogue in Africa, the El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, visited by thousands of Jewish pilgrims from around the world every year. The synagogue was packed with tourists at the time and 19 people, mainly German nationals, were killed.

“The government tightened its surveillance of Islamist groups,” said Anne Guidicelli. According to Hamma Hammami, the executive editor of the Tunisian banned opposition newspaper Al Badil, authorities launched “roundup operations.”

Another event in 2006 led the government to “rethink and reshuffle its intelligence and police services” according to Gaelle Arenson, editor-in-chief of Maghreb Confidential. For several days Islamist gunmen and Tunisian security services clashed during an operation in the outskirts of Tunis. “These jihadists were armed and trained in Algeria,” added Gaelle Arenson.

However, FRANCE 24 journalist and terrorism expert Ali Laidi believes that the operation was anything but well-organised. “It is clear when examining the arrests of the men involved in the clashes by security forces that they were not experienced al Qaeda members.” The journalist adds that nothing shows the men were affiliated with al Qaeda.   

Key sector under threat

Although Tunisia strengthened its security arsenal it wasn’t capable of avoiding what appears to be the abduction of an Austrian couple.

“The Ben Ali regime is locked down. It is therefore more complicated to launch major terror attacks in Tunisia than in neighbouring Algeria,” said Anne Guidicelli. “Al Qaeda in North Africa had to change its strategy and attack easier targets, such as foreign tourists. Attacking tourists is also efficient because it weakens the Tunisian regime” and its economy.

According to the latest report from the FMI World Economic Outlook, tourism remains a strategic sector for Tunisia, employing over a third of its active population. Every year, 5 million tourists visit Tunisia. Giudicelli explained that with the kidnapping, al Qaeda is sending a clear message to the regime: it is incapable of guarantying the tourists’ safety.