/ 27 November 2011

Search continues for SA man kidnapped in Mali

The search for a South African man kidnapped in Timbuktu, Mali, continued on Sunday, the department of international relations and cooperation said.

A South African team in Mali were trying to locate the man, whose abduction was reported on Friday, said spokesperson Clayson Monyela.

The 36-year-old man’s name could not be revealed, as this could jeopardise the search.

His family said on Saturday that if his name were published it “might give the abductors a chance to do something”.

The man’s father said that no ransom demands had been made to the family.

“We heard that the families of the other men were contacted, but there has been absolutely no contact with us yet.”

SAfm news reported on Saturday that the abductors were allegedly part of an al-Qaeda unit stationed in the region.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Swedish and Dutch tourists had been abducted with the South African and that a German man had been killed.

The men’s tour guide Ali Maiga told AP that gunmen burst into a Timbuktu restaurant, grabbed four tourists dining there, and executed one — the German — when he refused to climb into their truck. — Sapa