VIENNA: Two Austrians kidnapped in Tunisia by an al-Qaida affiliate have been released, ending an eight-month ordeal and anguished diplomatic attempts to win their freedom. Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 43, were freed on Thursday after 252 days in captivity and were under the protection of Mali's military, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said on Friday. Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa had claimed responsibility for abducting the pair Feb. 22 while they were on vacation in Tunisia. The precise circumstances leading up to the pair's release remained unclear, but Plassnik said the kidnappers let them go and Defense Minister Norbert Darabos said no rescue operation had been mounted. Austria's government had feared the worst after three deadlines set by their captors had expired with no sign of the missing couple from Salzburg - and no clear sense of exactly where they were being held. The group had unsuccessfully demanded the release of a Muslim husband and wife from an Austrian jail and pressed Austria to withdraw what it said were four Austrian officers in Afghanistan. Austria's Defense Ministry said there were only two officers serving in NATO's force in Afghanistan. In Mali, presidential spokesman Diarra Diakite said the Austrians were being driven Friday from the northeastern town of Douentza to the capital, Bamako. Austrian President Heinz Fischer expressed relief and thanked officials in Mali for their help. "Now the many months of waiting and worrying are over," he said. Kloiber's mother, Christine Lenz, wept on national TV as news of her daughter's release was announced. "I still can't believe it," she said. "I won't completely believe it until I'm able to wrap my arms around Andrea."
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...
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