Negotiations between the German government and a radical Islamic group holding 14 Europeans hostage in northern Mali have been interrupted, the German news network NTV reported on Monday.
”There is no more contact, negotiations have been interrupted,” the report said from the region where the tourists are believed to be held.
NTV said, however, that the group was still thought to be demanding a ransom of 4,6-million euros ($5,2-million) for each hostage.
The tourists — nine Germans, four Swiss and a Dutchman — were seized more than four months ago in the southern Algerian part of the Sahara, but are now believed to be in northern Mali.
They are thought to have been abducted by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), a radical Islamic group that has alleged links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
A source close to Malian negotiators said on Sunday that Germany was reluctant to pay any ransom but that while the kidnappers were initially angered by the unwillingness, they were prepared to continue talks.
The Malian government is using local leaders as mediators, while separate German government-approved negotiations are under way elsewhere, according to Malian official sources.
Authorities in Mali said on Friday that they had received a video cassette of the tourists in which they appear to be in good health, and which appeared to confirm a ransom demand made by their abductors.
A 15th hostage, a 46-year-old German woman, died of heatstroke about two weeks ago.
Seventeen other European tourists abducted in similar circumstances in the same area were freed in a raid by Algerianspecial forces in May. – Sapa