Tamanrasset, Algeria
Seventeen Europeans who had been held hostage since March by a militant Islamic group were released last week. The 10 Austrians, six Germans, and one Swede were captured after setting out to explore the Sahara desert. Their captors are still holding 15 tourists. “They said that Osama bin Laden was an idol for them, but that theirs was a separate group,” said hostage Andreas Bleckmann. The hostages said they were treated well by their captors, who wanted to call attention to Algeria’s 1992 elections. The kidnappers say that vote was legitimately won by Islamic fundamentalists who were prevented from taking power by the military.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
What does a slowdown in payroll additions mean for the coming year?Today's Big Question New private payrolls were well below expectations this November, according to one report
-
Sen. Warren's food fight over a potential 'big sandwich' monopoly
Talking Point A private equity firm's attempted Subway takeover has federal regulators salivating.
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
