Mauritanian media sources reported that Sahrawis from the Tindouf camps, who work as smugglers, kidnapped, Sunday, the son of a Mauritanian mayor. The mother of the victim had been called by the kidnappers for a 12 million ouguiya ransom (318,289 dirhams). They told her about a place in the Algerian city of Zoueirat where the family should bring the money, says Mauritanian newspaper Al Akhbar. The same source confirmed that the young man's family searched for him but couldn't find him and decided to call the authorities. Meanwhile, Sahrawi newspaper Futuro Sahara, accused Morocco of trying to «sow the seeds of hatred between the Sahrawi and the Mauritanian people». It added that the young man was not abducted but held by «Sahrawi merchants» to pay his debts. Although the newspaper confirmed the kidnapping, it stressed that it is purely commercial and shouldn't be exploited for political purposes.
