Spain, Algeria in top talks

2009-12-27 16:03

Madrid - High-level talks between Spain and Algeria will focus on security in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert following a spate of kidnappings, the Spanish foreign minister said on Sunday.

Six Europeans - three Spaniards, two Italians and a Frenchman - have been abducted in Mauritania since late November.

The North African branch of al-Qaeda has said it is holding the Spaniards and the Frenchman at an unknown location in the Sahara.

"We are going to have a high-level meeting with Algeria and there is no doubt security in the Sahel will be one of the key elements under discussion," Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said in an interview with El Pais newspaper.

Since 2008 the north and east of Mali, near the border with Algeria, has served as a refuge for armed Islamist groups who have kidnapped westerners, and it is thought the six Europeans are being held in this area.

In the El Pais interview, Moratinos also said the Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure had promised his help in winning their release.

Moratinos refused to go into detail about ongoing negotiations to free the hostages.
 

- AFP