VIENNA (AFP) — One of two Austrian hostages snatched by Al-Qaeda's north African offshoot in the Tunisian desert in February has been allowed to call his son, the foreign ministry said here on Saturday.
"The telephone call a few days ago was the sign of life we had been waiting for for 110 days," ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal said, confirming a newspaper report published Saturday.
According to the daily newspaper Kurier, hostage Wolfgang Ebner told his son Bernard that he was suffering from cholera and malaria.
He indicated that he was about to be freed but that the operation had run into complications because of the situation on the ground.
Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and his companion Andrea Kloiber, 44, went missing in Tunisia on February 22, with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb claiming responsibility for their abduction on March 10. It is believed they are now being held in Mali.
While unwilling to confirm that their release was imminent, Launsky-Tieffenthal acknowledged that "progress" had been made in negotiations to secure their freedom.
"Our team of negotiators over there led by Anton Prohaska are working for their release but the security situation in northern Mali, linked to tension between groups who are not necessarily involved in this affair, is not making matters any easier," he told AFP.
Kurier quoted a diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, saying the hostages had already been released by their abductors and were now in the hands of intermediaries.
Launsky-Tieffenthal refused to comment on the report, judging it "premature to be too optimistic."
The kidnappers initially demanded the release of a number of Islamic extremists imprisoned in Algeria and Tunisia. They have since demanded a five million euro ransom (7.9 million dollars) according to unconfirmed press reports.
Vienna, which is being helped by Bamako in its negotiations with intermediaries to obtain their release, has refused to comment on the kidnappers' demands or ultimatums.
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