Two Spanish aid workers held by al Qaeda's North African wing were freed on Monday, the Spanish government said, ending a kidnapping that lasted nearly nine months, the longest period of captivity in the Sahara desert. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) said it seized Albert Vilalta and Roque Pascual while they were travelling through Mauritania with a relief aid convoy last November, the latest in a string of abductions claimed by the group.
"They are safe and sound after 268 days in the hands of their kidnappers and of the Spanish government's concern and efforts to obtain their release," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference. He said family members were travelling with a government representative to meet the two men, who were working with the Barcelona-Accio Solidario aid group when they were seized.
They are due to arrive in Barcelona on Monday night. AQIM has said that Spain is one of its targets because it is an ally of the United States and part of Nato. The release appeared to be linked to Mauritania's repatriation to Mali earlier this month of a militant convicted of the kidnapping of the two Spaniards, along with a third who was freed in March, a European security analyst said.
Officials in Mauritania and Mali have declined to comment on whether the extradition of Omar Sid-Ahmed Ould Hamma, alias Omar Sahraoui, to his home country was linked to efforts to free the hostages. Mali released four Islamist prisoners earlier this year in an apparent swap for French hostage Pierre Camatte, freed by AQIM in February. Mali was criticised for the move by regional neighbours Algeria, Mauritania and Niger.