GERMANY: The German Defence Minister has suggested that the European tourists taken hostage in the Sahara Desert should turn over to the German government any money they earn from selling their story.
Mr Peter Struck said yesterday the money could be used to offset the huge cost of rescuing the tourists, 17 in Algeria in May and then a further 14 in Mali last week.
"Out of consideration for the taxpayer, we should expect that people don't make a profit from their kidnapping but rather make available to the state fees for photos and stories," Mr Struck told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
The government has declined to comment on reports that the tourists' freedom was bought with a ransom of at least $5 million to the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, an Islamic extremist group fighting for a purist Islamist state in Algeria.
Mr Struck's comments come after opposition politicians suggested that the hostages be asked to pay back the rescue costs.
German tourists taken hostage three years ago in the Philippines paid a portion of their rescue costs after selling the exclusive rights to their story.