Al-Qaeda 'kidnaps tourists' in Tunisia

Updated 20.27 Mon Mar 10 2008

Keywords: Tunisia, al-Qaeda, Austria

Al-Qaeda's North Africa wing has claimed it is holding two Austrian tourists that were abducted in Tunisia.

In a video aired on TV, a man identified as Salah Abou-Mohammad, a spokesman of al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, said that the tourists were in a good condition.

The spokesman said the group will announce its conditions for the release of the two, a man and a woman, at a later stage

The spokesman said the group will announce its conditions for the release of the two, a man and a woman, at a later stage.

Abou-Mohammad identified the tourists as a nurse and a consultant, giving their names as Andrea Kobler and Wolfgang Edner. They were kidnapped on February 22.

"The hand of the mujahideen can reach you wherever you were on Tunisian soil," he said addressing tourists in the North African country, which attracts many visitors from Europe.