CAIRO: Security officials in Algeria have reported that governor Ahmed Khelifi of the country's southeastern Illizi region has been kidnapped near the border with Libya, and is being held by members of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the organization's North African branch. “The governor is in the hands of AQIM (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), who have already contacted his parents,” officials told Reuters news agency, speaking on condition on anonymity. The governor was on his was to defuse a youth protest in the area, and was abducted by armed men, believed to be associated with AQIM. He was taken hostage, and driven toward the Libyan border. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/n6FFb Tags: Ahmed Khelifi, Al Qaeda, Kidnapping Section: Algeria, Latest News
