"The situation in northern Mali is far too dangerous for aid workers" - Society for Threatened Peoples warns about further abductions of Europeans

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns about abductions of aid workers from Europe in northern Mali. "If aid organizations accept the offer of the radical Islamic Ansar Dine and send out personnel to northern Mali, their safety cannot be assured," said the STP’s Africa-expert, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Wednesday. "The situation in northern Mali is far too dangerous for aid workers. There is a danger of kidnappings by other radical Islamic movements who will deliberately try to take European hostages to be able to blackmail the European Union." According to the STP, these abductions are not only meant to finance their terrorist activities, but also to force Europe to call off the planned military intervention in northern Mali. "We strongly recommend that Europeans should stay away from the conflict region", said Delius.

According to media reports, Ansar Dine had informed intermediaries in Burkina Faso on Tuesday evening that they will allow foreign aid workers to access their controlled areas in northern Mali to work there. The government of Burkina Faso had already been trying to start a dialogue with the Islamist movements for weeks – in order to avoid the international military intervention. The mediators are especially trying to liberate Ansar Dine – who are led by the Tuareg Ag Ghali – from the terrorist groups "Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI)" and the "Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO)". Although the Ansar Dine disassociated themselves from "terrorism" and "extremism" in yesterday’s negotiations, they are not prepared to give up the cooperation with AQMI and MUJAO.

Recent kidnappings in neighboring Niger show how dangerous the situation for foreign aid workers is: On November 4, 2012, five helpers from Nigeria were released after MUJAO had abducted them on October 14, 2012, by mistake. Witnesses reported that the movement had originally wanted to take European hostages. A sixth aid worker from Chad got killed during the abduction.

"MUJAO is extremely dangerous," said Delius. They already killed several hostages, most recently the Algerian Vice Consul Tahar Touati on September 3, 2012. The movement also breaches agreements with Ansar Dine and is known to exchange hostages with the AQMI.