Svenska journalister bortförda i Syrien 23/11

Terrorist cell al-Qaeda has made £50million in ransom payments from kidnaps in the last three years, according to the British UN ambassador.
Mark Lyall Grant, the UK Government's representative in New York, revealed the shocking statistic as he attempts to persuade members of the United Nations security council to sign up to a blanket ban on the deals.
His claims were backed up by a top UN diplomat who said that ransom payments were now the biggest source of income for Northern Africa's al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula.
Mr Lyall Grant is now urging member states to sign a resolution which calls on all countries not to pay ransom to kidnappers who use the money to finance terrorist groups.

-------

A U.N. diplomat said there has been an upward trend in the overall number of kidnappings by terrorist groups, and an average of over $2 million is being paid per foreign hostage.