Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »
Wed 08 Aug 2010Aid workers return after 268-day kidnap ordeal
TWO SPANISH aid workers, held hostage by al-Qaeda’s North African branch for 268 days, flew back to Spain early yesterday morning. Looking happy but thin and tired, they arrived at Barcelona airport on a Spanish military plane to scenes of jubilation.
Roque Pascual (50) and Albert Villalta (35) had been in Mauritania in a convoy carrying aid to sub-Saharan Africa when they were seized at gunpoint last November by members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
Choose a Subscription type - required
