al-qaeda

Freelance photojournalist Ricard Garcia has been kidnapped in the Syrian province of Raqqa together with El Mundo reporter Javier Espinosa by a group related to Al-Qaeda. On the 4^th September, the Catalan Marc Marginedas, reporter from El Periódico, was also kidnapped in Syria. Barcelona-born Garcia and Málaga-born Espinosa have been missing since the 16^th September near the Tal Abyad checkpoint. However, the news had not been announced until this Tuesday, when El Mundo published the information. They were kidnapped near the Turkish border together with 4 soldiers of Ahfad al Moustapha, one of the brigades of the Free Syrian Army, who were supposed to protect them. The 4 soldiers were released 12 days after they were taken away, but not the 2 journalists. Marginedas also remains in captivity.

Jean-Pierre Filiu, expert in Islamic terrorism expert, tells ACN that the death of the Al-Qaeda leader should weaken the organisation and provoke a short circuit between their three main connected branches: the Maghreb, Iraq and Yemen.

The detainees are accused of falsifying documents, such as the passports used in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The seven men are allegedly part of an international network that provides Al-Qaeda with fake IDs

The longest kidnapping by Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb and the Sahel has now ended after 268 days. The 2 men arrived last night at Barcelona from Burkina Faso, where they took a plane after a long journey by car and helicopter across Mali, where they were kept. They were kidnapped in Mauritania last November when they were travelling with a cooperation aid convoy heading to Senegal and The Gambia. The freeing operation has been very complex and there are unconfirmed rumours of a ransom payment.