Sahara: Missing tourists freed

2003-05-14 10:27

Berlin - Ten Austrian nationals and six Germans missing in the Sahara desert have been freed, the two countries' foreign ministries said on Wednesday.

The German foreign ministry was, however, unable to give details over the fate of 10 other German tourists missing in the desert.

The 10 Austrian tourists freed represent all of Vienna's nationals who were missing in the Algerian desert.

Up to 32 European tourists have been missing in the vast swathes of the Algerian Sahara, some since early February, including 16 Germans, the 10 Austrians, four Swiss, one Dutch national and a Swede.

The Swiss foreign ministry was unable to give details about the fate of its four nationals missing in the desert.

Earlier, the head of the regional government in Salzburg, Austria, Franz Schausberger, indicated that the group of 32 missing tourists have been free since early morning.

"They have been free since 04:00 this morning and are safe and sound," he told Austria's ORF radio, without elaborating.

The Algiers daily Liberte reported on Wednesday that 17 of the European tourists missing in the country had been freed the day earlier in the Tamerlick region.

The spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said that the six Germans who have been freed are in good health at the country's embassy in the Algerian capital Algiers.

Algeria had deployed thousands of soldiers in search of the tourists, who were travelling in six groups without guides when they disappeared within a month in a desert covering two million square kilometres in Algeria alone.

German foreign minister Joschka Fischer held talks with top Algerian officials in the capital Algiers on Monday, warning against the use of force in solving the mystery of the tourists' disappearance.

- AFX