Spain makes kidnapping pay for al Qaeda

Bareina, a small desert village in the south o...Image via Wikipedia
Telegraph:

Albert Vilalta, 35 and Roque Pascual, 50 were reunited with their families in Barcelona, early on Tuesday after being freed from the desert camp in Mali, where they had been held captive for 268 days.

The Spanish government has declined to comment on reports that they paid out nearly seven million euros to secure the release of three workers who were seized last November when travelling across Mauritania in a convoy, distributing aid for the NGO Barcelona Solidarity Action.

One of the hostages, Alicia Gamez, 39, was freed in March following an initial payment of 3.8 million euros (£3.1 million), of which more than half was siphoned off by intermediaries.

A report in El Mundo, the Spanish daily newspaper, said further payments totalling three million euros (2.5m POUNDS) were paid in April and May.

But it was not until the release of a Mali national jailed in Mauritania for masterminding the kidnap that the remaining two hostages were freed. The al-Qa’eda affiliate had demanded his return as a condition for the release of the remaining two aid workers.

...
By rewarding the conduct the Spanish government will probably see more of its citizens kidnapped. They will be funding our enemy at the same time.
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