Hostage 'suffering a lot'

2009-07-04 10:01

Bamako - Swiss national Werner Greitner, kidnapped by al-Qaeda's north African branch in January, is suffering a lot and hardly eating, an official from northern Malia told AFP Friday.

"He is hardly eating at all. He is suffering a lot. We are very worried," the official who is involved in talks for his release said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another negotiator added: "The situation is very worrisome. The kidnappers have not yet killed him but he is in a critical state. He is hardly eating," another negotiator said.

The extremist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) which is holding Greitner on May 31 killed British hostage Edwin Dyer as London would not meet their demands.

The group around Algerian-born Mohamed Abou Zeid is believed to be the one which held four European tourists kidnapped in Niger in January.

In a statement posted on an Islamic website earlier this month al-Qaeda's north African branch demanded the release of Islamic radical Abu Qatada.

Switzerland has condemned Dyer's beheading as a "barbaric act" but stressed that this would not deter Bern from making "intense efforts" to seek Greitner's release.

- SAPA