[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n  \n\n  \n  \u003Cp\u003EFrom 2009 through 2011, AQIM gained further notoriety by kidnapping more than a dozen predominantly European nationals.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter the June 2009 beheading of Briton Edwin Dyer in Niger, the\u003Cem\u003E Daily Mail\u003C\/em\u003E guessed that his slaying could have been \u201cpart of a double message of defiance by al-Qaeda ahead of Mr. Obama\u2019s speech in Cairo today.\u201d According to security expert Hamid Ghomrassa, the first message was that \u201cAl-Qaeda is a force in the region that cannot be ignored,\u201d while the second message was that \u201cfrom now on the West should understand that paying ransoms to get back hostages is the only way to deal.\u201d The paper noted that Europeans and Canadians who were \u201ckidnapped in similar circumstances\u201d were let go in exchange for ransom payments despite the British government\u2019s \u201cblanket policy against\u201d paying ransoms to terrorist groups.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EDavid Williams and Arthur Martin, \u201cBritish Man \u2018Beheaded\u2019 by Al Qaeda Terrorists,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EDaily Mail\u003C\/em\u003E (London), June 4, 2009, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-1190477\/British-man-Edwin-Dyer-beheaded-Al-Qaeda-terrorists.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-1190477\/British-man-Edwin-Dyer-beheaded-Al-Qaeda-terrorists.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen three Spanish aid workers kidnapped in November 2009 were freed by AQIM in late 2010, Reuters speculated that they might have been freed in exchange for prisoners being held in Mauritania. Though officials in Mauritania remained silent regarding the alleged prisoner swap. Reuters cited security analysts labeling of AQIM as opportunistic, making such exchanges likely for the return of their own or to fundraise.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003ETracy Rucinski and Mathieu Bonkoungou, \u201cFreed Al Qaeda Hostages Arrive Back in Spain,\u201d Reuters, August 23, 2010, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2010\/08\/24\/idUSLDE67M1V2\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2010\/08\/24\/idUSLDE67M1V2\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBy the end of 2012, the\u003Cem\u003E New York Times \u003C\/em\u003Ereported that AQIM had earned \u0022as much as $90 million or more in ransoms over the past decade, turning it into one of the region\u2019s wealthiest, best-armed militant groups.\u201d One of the militants interviewed by the paper bragged openly that, \u201cThe source of our financing is the Western countries. They are paying for jihad.\u201d The paper also quoted the Treasury Department\u2019s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David Cohen, who said that the average ransom payment to AQIM had increased from $4.5 million per hostage in 2010 to $5.4 million per hostage in 2011.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EAdam Nossiter, \u201cMillions in Ransoms Fuel Militants\u2019 Clout in West Africa,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E, December 12, 2012, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/13\/world\/africa\/kidnappings-fuel-extremists-in-western-africa.html?pagewanted=all\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/12\/13\/world\/africa\/kidnappings-fuel-extremists-in-western-africa.html?pagewanted=all\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"Kidnappings"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]