NIGERIA   3/10/2120

A report by a Mauritanian news agency, Agence Nouakchott D'Information, which is known to have close contacts with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM), claimed it was told by an AQIM source that the gang who abducted the two Europeans had already received part of the ransom demanded for the release of the two. According to the report, the kidnappers initially demanded €5 million and the release of prisoners, but later settled on €1.2 million and no prisoner release. According to the AQIM source, the kidnappers intended to release the two engineers when the rest of the cash was handed over, but in the meantime British intelligence services and their Nigerian counterparts located their hideout and launched the failed rescue operation. The British Foreign Office denied the report. (telegraph.co.uk, 10 March 2012 & guardian.co.uk, 10 March 2012)

MALI   4/15/2012

A Swiss woman in her 40s was kidnapped from her house in the Abaradjou neighborhood of the rebel-held northern Malian city of Timbuktu. According to witnesses, a group of six armed men shouting “'Allah Akbar” barged into her house and took her away. The Swiss foreign ministry has confirmed the abduction of the woman who worked as a Christian missionary. Since 2009, Switzerland has advised against travel to Mali, citing the risk of kidnap. After the coup that toppled the Malian president last month, it advised all Swiss nationals in Mali to leave the country temporarily. (bbc.com, 16 April 2012)

MALAYSIA   4/13/2012

A 22 –year-old painter pleaded not guilty to a charge of kidnapping and ransom. According to court files, the man and another accomplice, who is still at large, have kidnapping a 14-year-old boy at around 7:20 am in Jalan Kas Kas, Taman Cheras in Kuala Lumpor on April 2. The two allegedly demanded a ransom of RM 50,000 from the boy’s father in return for his safe release. A trial was set for a later date. (bernamamedia.com, 13 April 2012)

PAKISTAN   4/13/2012

The families of six kidnapped Pakistani aid workers launched an unusual public campaign to raise ransom money demanded by their abductors. About a dozen armed militants sized the six working for the Baluchistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP) in Pishin district of the troubled southwestern province in December 2011. Their families have set up a camp at a main junction in the middle of the provincial capital Quetta to try to raise the US$2.5 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who are believed to be from Tehreek-i-Taleban Pakistan (TTP). The move came after the kidnappers announced the execution of a seventh worker in February after the expiry of a deadline. The abductees are from poor families and their employer-- an NGO dealing with health, education and agriculture projects---says it has no funds to pay the ransom. (arabtimesonline.com, 15 April 2012)

KAZAKSTAN   4/13/2012

Burabayskogo police in the Akmola region detained three of six men suspected in the kidnapping for ransom and torture of a Shchuchinsk businessman earlier in the month. The victim, who owns several stores, was hospitalized after the kidnappers severely beat him and tortured him with a hot iron. The kidnappers demanded a US$220,000 ransom from the victim's family and released him after receiving a 1.4 million tenge payment (approximately US$9,335). (tengrinews.kz, 14 April 2012)