West Africa jihadists threaten to kill Spanish hostage

A west African Al-Qaeda splinter group on Wednesday threatened to kill a Spanish hostage kidnapped in western Algeria last year if their demands are not met, a spokesman said.

“Spain is postponing every round of negotiations to answer our demands, and this is going to put the life of hostage Enrico Gonyalons to an end,” said Adnan Abu Walid Sahraoui, spokesman for the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO.

MUJAO first emerged last December, presenting themselves as an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, when they claimed the kidnap three months earlier of three aid workers, two Spanish and one Italian, from Tindouf, Algeria.

The group is demanding the release of prisoners from Mauritania as well as 30 million euros ($40 million).

“Spain must understand our message… Spain will carry all responsibility” for whatever happens, the spokesman said in a written message to AFP.