Hostage trade has become popular in the Sahara desert Sources say Sahrawi Mamman Ould Afiqih has been transferred by Mauritanian private military aircraft to Burkina Faso, as a part of an exchange deal in which he will be traded for one Italian and two Spanish tourists who were kidnapped by the Tawhid and Jihad group in Northern Mali a few months ago.
Walid abu Sahrawi, a spokesman of the Tawheed and Jihad movement in West Africa, revealed that the movement received a “large ransom” in exchange for the 3 hostages who were released by the group last Wednesday.  Abu Sahrawi says the group also received 15 million euros in exchange for the hostages, including the return of Sahrawi, a member of the group, who was detained in Mauritania months ago after being charged with helping to kidnap western citizens in the Tindouf refugee camps in southern Algeria.
Political observers say not much else is known about the deal because the government is reluctant to reveal too much information.  Hostage trading has become popular in the Sahara Desert. A spokesman for the Tawheed and Jihad Movement warned against travelling through the camps of the Western Sahara, where the Polisario Liberation Front is based.