Ein Gedi Botanic Garden

Ein Gedi Botanic Garden
Seek the serenity of a Judean Desert sky in Autumn at the Ein Gedi Botanic Garden

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Israel Warns of Al-Qaeda Kidnap Threat in Northern Africa

Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Israeli government issued a concrete travel warning to its citizens Wednesday afternoon that the international al-Qaeda terrorist organization is intent on carrying out abductions, including against Israelis, in the Sahel countries in northern Africa.

“Information has been received that the organization intends to perpetrate attacks, especially abduction attacks, including against Israelis, in the various Sahel countries in Africa,” read he warning from the National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau.

“Given this concrete threat, the NSC Counter-Terrorism Bureau recommends that Israelis avoid visiting or staying in the following countries/areas: Ivory Coast, Togo, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali and northern Nigeria (about which there already is a valid travel warning).”

The NSC Counter-Terrorism Bureau also requested that Israelis maintain telephone contact with their friends and relatives currently in the above-mentioned countries/areas and update them on their status regularly.

In its warning, the Bureau also pointed out that in the past two years al-Qaeda gangs have kidnapped Austrian, German and Canadian nationals. The terrorists also attempted to snatch four U.S. citizens, but failed.

The Sahel is a geographical and climatic region of Africa that stretches in a swathe across the north of the continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea, south of the Sahara Desert and north of the Sudan.

Countries in the Sahel include Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.

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