2011-11-28 07:40
Johannesburg – There was “very little” information on the abduction of a South African in Mali, the international relations department said on Monday.
“The department is in close contact with the family. We met the family to compare notes and render consular assistance to them. The family is quite anxious for any news,” the department’s spokesperson Clayson Monyela told SAfm.
“There is very little we know at this stage.”
He said the South African embassy was working closely with authorities in Mali, who had “mounted a huge search” for those abducted.
Monyela said the department had been advised it was safer not to publish the name of the 36-year-old South African man, who was abducted with Swedish and Dutch tourists on Friday.
“Kidnappers watch, listen and monitor any bit of information so they can use that to achieve their agenda.
“We are dealing with a very unfortunate eventuality.”
The men’s tour guide Ali Maiga told the Associated Press that gunmen burst into a Timbuktu restaurant, grabbed four tourists dining there and executed one, a German, when he refused to climb into their truck.
– SAPA
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Very little info on Mali abduction – govt