Al-Qaeda kidnappers who executed Briton will be 'hunted relentlessly'

Published on Wednesday 3 June 2009 22:04

THE Prime Minister yesterday warned that those responsible for the murder of Briton Edwin Dyer in Mali would be "hunted down and brought to justice".

Speaking after hostage-takers claimed they had carried out their threat to kill Mr Dyer, Gordon Brown condemned the "appalling and barbaric act of terrorism" and said: "There will be no hiding place for them and no safe haven for terrorists who attack our country."

Mr Dyer was one of four European tourists taken hostage on 22 January as they returned from a cultural festival. They were held by al-Qaeda's North African wing, known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Mr Dyer, who had been working in Austria and spoke fluent German, was on holiday in West Africa with German travel operator Oase Reisen.

He was abducted, along with a Swiss couple and a German woman, near the border with Niger after attending a festival of nomad culture at Anderamboukane in Mali.

At first it was believed the hostage-takers were Tuareg rebels, who have regularly clashed with Mali's army, but in February AQIM claimed responsibility.

Two of the captives were released in mid-April, but days later the terrorists issued an ultimatum, warning they would kill Mr Dyer unless the UK freed radical cleric Abu Qatada within 20 days. The deadline was extended by 15 days to 30 May, but frantic efforts to secure the safe release of the Briton failed.

In a statement issued yesterday, AQIM said: "The British captive was killed so that he, and with him the British state, may taste a tiny portion of what innocent Muslims taste every day at the hands of the Crusader and Jewish coalition to the east and to the west."

Mr Brown said: "This tragedy reinforces our commitment to confront terrorism. It strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms.

"I want those who would use terror against British citizens to know beyond doubt that we and our allies will pursue them relentlessly.

"I have regularly discussed this case with the president of Mali – he knows he will have every support in rooting out al-Qaeda from his country."

Foreign Secretary David Miliband pledged that Britain would continue working to secure the release of the Swiss man still being held by the group.

Qatada is being held in prison in the UK as he fights an attempt to extradite him to Jordan, where he faces terrorism charges.

The Law Lords ruled in February that he can be deported, but his lawyers are appealing against the verdict, claiming he faces torture if he is returned to the Middle East country.

He was first arrested in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the United States and has been described as "al-Qaeda's spiritual leader in Europe".

It is understood that Mr Dyer, who was in his early sixties, lived in Austria.