Dubai: Al-Qaeda's North Africa branch, which is holding two Austrian hostages, has extended until April 6 a deadline for Austria, Tunisia and Algeria to save the hostages lives, a monitoring group has said.

"It is an additional extension of two weeks that will expire on Sunday April 6,2008 at midnight," Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said in a message posted on Islamist militant websites, the US-based SITE Intelligence Group said.

Al-Qaeda said that at the time its "final" extension expires, "we will have exhausted what we could bear. Let Austria, Tunisia and Algeria be responsible for the lives of the kidnapped."

The Al-Qaeda wing, which is holding Andrea Kloiber and Wolfgang Ebner after abducting them in north Africa, repeated its demand for the release of "some of our hostages."

It had originally demanded the release of a number of Islamists imprisoned in Algeria and Tunisia in exchange for the Austrians freedom.

Although the ultimatum was addressed to Austria, the message dated yesterday also held Tunisia and Algeria "responsible for the lives of the kidnapped."

The statement reported by SITE said that following the expiry of the second extension, "the conditions of the mujahedeen regarding the release of some of our hostages in return for the release of the kidnapped are still the same and did not change, even while some of the newspapers that are used to lying claim otherwise."
Source : PTI