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Germany is poised to send its crack anti-terrorist GSG9 police unit to Algeria to help free 31 European tourists thought to have been kidnapped after they vanished in the Sahara between February and April this year.European governments are frustrated by the lack of progress made by Algeria in finding the tourists - 15 Germans, 10 Austrians, four Swiss, a Dutchman and a Swede - who had been travelling in several groups when they disappeared.   There has been no official word on their whereabouts or of any ransom demand from their kidnappers - believed to be members of the Salafist...

GLOBAL JIHAD Islamists clench missing tourists Reports confirm Europeans believed held by Muslim militants in Algeria Reports across Europe say 31 tourists missing for two months are in the custody of Islamic militants tied to the al-Qaida terror network, confirming information reported last week by WorldNetDaily and the G2 Bulletin. Algerian police have discovered one of the vehicles used by some of the 31 tourists who vanished without a trace in the Sahara Desert, Germany's ARD radio reported. And a senior Algerian army official told the French newspaper Le Monde the trekkers are in the hands of more than a...

Algeria has made an important breakthrough in its search for 31 missing European tourists with the discovery of one of their vehicles and confirmation from a senior army official that they are in the hands of more than a dozen Islamists. The tourists have been separated into two groups and are being held in canyons and gullies near the town of Illizi, which lies near the Libyan border some 900 miles south-east of Algiers, a senior security official told the French newspaper Le Monde yesterday. The 15 Germans, 10 Austrians, four Swiss, a Dutchman and a Swede who, while travelling...

The 31 European tourists missing in the Algerian Sahara desert are apparently alive and in captivity, and Algerian authorities are working to obtain their release, a Mali diplomat said. Algeria has deployed thousands of soldiers in a major hunt for 15 Germans, 10 Austrians, four Swiss, a Dutchman and a Swede missing in the vast desert, which in Algeria alone covers two million square kilometres (775,000 square miles). "The 31 have been spotted and our Algerian brothers are working in double quick time to ensure their release," the official told AFP in Bamako, capital of the neighbouring state of...

ALGERIA: Human Shields for Holy Warriors April 24, 2003: The 31 lost Europeans are now thought to be held by a group of Islamic rebels fearful of a government crackdown. The Europeans were grabbed for use as human shields. The Europeans are thought to be held outside the town of Illizi, 1,700 kilometers southeast of the capital. April 18, 2003: Police ambushed rebels 430 kilometers west of the capital, killing three of them. April 18, 2003: So far this month, Islamic rebel activity has left 30 people dead, 25 of them rebels. Since the start of the year, 360 have...

An Algerian terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda is holding hostage the 31 European tourists who disappeared in the Sahara desert weeks ago. The tourists were kidnapped as human shields because the terrorists feared a clampdown by the authorities, the Austrian weekly Profil magazine reports in its latest edition, due out Monday. Fifteen Germans, 10 Austrians, four Swiss, a Dutchman and a Swede travelling in at least seven separate groups are missing in the southern Sahara. Some have not been heard of since February. Profil added it was highly likely the tourists were being held some 80 kilometres from the...

21 Missing Tourists Sought in Sahara HASSANE MEFTAHI Associated Press ALGIERS, Algeria - Searchers using camels and helicopters equipped with heat-seeking sensors have scoured the Sahara Desert for 21 tourists, mostly Germans, who vanished in Algeria over the past six weeks. But the search effort has, so far, been in vain, and authorities cannot even say whether smugglers, Islamic insurgents or potentially devastating desert problems like empty gas tanks are to blame. Five groups of tourists - 16 Germans, four Swiss and a Dutch national - have disappeared in Algeria since the end of February. Most went missing near desert...