Malian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Moctar Ouane holds a

Malian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Moctar Ouane holds a presser at the foreign ministry in Bamako on March 24, 2008 where he said that "bands of tuaregs from neighbouring states" had "backed up" Malian rebel tuaregs who had recently attacked Malian army in the far north of the country. He also said that the presence of the two kidnapped Austrian tourists abducted by the Algeria-based group, Al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, on Malian territory "is not confirmed" by the "competent services". Two Austrian tourists Andrea Kloiber, 44 and Wolfgang Ebner, 51, were abducted on February 22 as they were vacationing in the Tunisian desert and are now believed to be in northern Mali. The group is demanding the release of a number of Islamists imprisoned in Algeria and Tunisia in exchange for the Austrians' freedom. Austrian media reported the group was demanding five million euros (7.9 million dollars), although officially Vienna has refused to consider paying a ransom.
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