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| Video of 2003 Kidnapping in Algeria | Video of 2003 Kidnapping in Algeria |
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| With little planning, an ill-equipped group of Islamic extremists succeeded in kidnapping 32 European citizens in the Algerian desert in 2003, holding them for up to six months and ransoming them for 5 million euros. | With little planning, an ill-equipped group of Islamic extremists succeeded in kidnapping 32 European citizens in the Algerian desert in 2003, holding them for up to six months and ransoming them for 5 million euros. |
| Released for the first time, a rare video made by the militants during the 2003 kidnapping, acquired by Swiss intelligence and recently obtained by The New York Times, shows that the kidnappers were amateurs. The ease with which they abducted the hostages, however, and the ransom they earned, shows how the militants developed the perfect crime with which to bankroll their operations. | Released for the first time, a rare video made by the militants during the 2003 kidnapping, acquired by Swiss intelligence and recently obtained by The New York Times, shows that the kidnappers were amateurs. The ease with which they abducted the hostages, however, and the ransom they earned, shows how the militants developed the perfect crime with which to bankroll their operations. |
| “Kidnapping is basically low-hanging fruit,” said Rudolph Atallah, who was the director of African counterterrorism policy for the Pentagon at the time of the kidnapping. | “Kidnapping is basically low-hanging fruit,” said Rudolph Atallah, who was the director of African counterterrorism policy for the Pentagon at the time of the kidnapping. |
| Fighters from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which would later become an official branch of Al Qaeda, perpetrated the 2003 kidnapping. Their leaders came from Algeria’s northern coastal region and were not used to driving in the sands of the Sahara, said the hostages. The jihadists grabbed tourists from Germany who were traveling on motorcycles, but did not know how to operate the bikes. They forced the tourists to drive with a gunman riding on the back of the seat. | Fighters from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, which would later become an official branch of Al Qaeda, perpetrated the 2003 kidnapping. Their leaders came from Algeria’s northern coastal region and were not used to driving in the sands of the Sahara, said the hostages. The jihadists grabbed tourists from Germany who were traveling on motorcycles, but did not know how to operate the bikes. They forced the tourists to drive with a gunman riding on the back of the seat. |
| The leader of the operation, Abderrazak el Para, whom the French news media called “the Bin Laden of the Sahara,” appears almost giddy the first time he mounts a motorcycle. His European captive — apparently not yet aware that he has been kidnapped — shows him how to stand up properly in the seat. | |
| “This video shows, No. 1, the lack of sophistication of the jihadists,” said Mr. Atallah, who reviewed the video. “It also crucially shows that they were ad-libbing. They had never done this before.” | “This video shows, No. 1, the lack of sophistication of the jihadists,” said Mr. Atallah, who reviewed the video. “It also crucially shows that they were ad-libbing. They had never done this before.” |
| Ingo Bleckmann, a 60-year-old inventor from Salzburg, Austria, initially thought he was being robbed when the militants confronted him. He said he quickly realized he was in the hands of ideological extremists. | Ingo Bleckmann, a 60-year-old inventor from Salzburg, Austria, initially thought he was being robbed when the militants confronted him. He said he quickly realized he was in the hands of ideological extremists. |
| The gunmen forced their targets, traveling in campers, all-terrain vehicles, jeeps and minivans, to the side of the road and began dismantling their vehicles, searching their belongings. Mr. Bleckmann noticed that their Arabic-speaking captors were carefully inspecting their canned food. “I realized that they were reading the labels looking for the word, schweinefleisch — German for pork meat,” Mr. Bleckmann said in an interview. | The gunmen forced their targets, traveling in campers, all-terrain vehicles, jeeps and minivans, to the side of the road and began dismantling their vehicles, searching their belongings. Mr. Bleckmann noticed that their Arabic-speaking captors were carefully inspecting their canned food. “I realized that they were reading the labels looking for the word, schweinefleisch — German for pork meat,” Mr. Bleckmann said in an interview. |
| Anything containing the forbidden meat was thrown into a pile. When they found beer, the militants smashed the bottles against the rocks. | Anything containing the forbidden meat was thrown into a pile. When they found beer, the militants smashed the bottles against the rocks. |
| Female hostages were told to cover up. Two 19-year-old Swiss women, taken a few weeks before Mr. Bleckmann, spent six months wearing towels and handkerchiefs on their heads. | Female hostages were told to cover up. Two 19-year-old Swiss women, taken a few weeks before Mr. Bleckmann, spent six months wearing towels and handkerchiefs on their heads. |
| In later kidnapping operations, the fighters, who renamed themselves Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, brought hijabs for their female hostages. Unlike in 2003, when men and women were allowed to mingle, they would later be segregated. | In later kidnapping operations, the fighters, who renamed themselves Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, brought hijabs for their female hostages. Unlike in 2003, when men and women were allowed to mingle, they would later be segregated. |
| To protect their investment, fighters made efforts to keep their hostages alive. In one clip, a European hostage nearly faints after his blood pressure drops in the difficult desert terrain. A jihadist rushes to place a compress on his forehead. In other private moments captured in the video, men who would soon appear on the international terrorist watchlist joke with their victims. | To protect their investment, fighters made efforts to keep their hostages alive. In one clip, a European hostage nearly faints after his blood pressure drops in the difficult desert terrain. A jihadist rushes to place a compress on his forehead. In other private moments captured in the video, men who would soon appear on the international terrorist watchlist joke with their victims. |
| The militants struggled with every aspect of the 2003 operation. They ran out of food, resorting to eating a porridge of flour mixed with muddy water in dirty buckets. They ran out of fuel, abandoning the hostages’ vehicles as they ran out of gas. | The militants struggled with every aspect of the 2003 operation. They ran out of food, resorting to eating a porridge of flour mixed with muddy water in dirty buckets. They ran out of fuel, abandoning the hostages’ vehicles as they ran out of gas. |
| In a stolen moment, one of the jihadists confided to Harald Galler, 40, a hostage from Austria, that they had planned for the kidnapping to last only two weeks. “It was clear they were not prepared,” Mr. Galler said. | In a stolen moment, one of the jihadists confided to Harald Galler, 40, a hostage from Austria, that they had planned for the kidnapping to last only two weeks. “It was clear they were not prepared,” Mr. Galler said. |
| None of the hostages resisted. They simply raised their hands in surrender and, though the hostages would outnumber their captors, they never dared run away. | None of the hostages resisted. They simply raised their hands in surrender and, though the hostages would outnumber their captors, they never dared run away. |
| “Where would we go?” asked Harald Ickler, a former hostage, who was 47 when he left Miesbach, Germany, for what he thought would be a four-week adventure. “No water.” The forbidding desert became a prison without bars. | “Where would we go?” asked Harald Ickler, a former hostage, who was 47 when he left Miesbach, Germany, for what he thought would be a four-week adventure. “No water.” The forbidding desert became a prison without bars. |
| The German, Swiss and Austrian governments dispatched a BR 1150 Atlantic surveillance plane with infrared sensors from a base in Sardinia to scour the desert of southern Algeria to find the hostages. The plane spotted what analysts thought were the hostages, divided into two groups, hundreds of miles apart. But they could not differentiate the hostages from their captors, a problem that would dog future rescue missions. | The German, Swiss and Austrian governments dispatched a BR 1150 Atlantic surveillance plane with infrared sensors from a base in Sardinia to scour the desert of southern Algeria to find the hostages. The plane spotted what analysts thought were the hostages, divided into two groups, hundreds of miles apart. But they could not differentiate the hostages from their captors, a problem that would dog future rescue missions. |
| The footage shown here illustrates how the fighters blended into the desert landscape. The Europeans ruled out a rescue operation, fearing they might shoot their own hostages. | The footage shown here illustrates how the fighters blended into the desert landscape. The Europeans ruled out a rescue operation, fearing they might shoot their own hostages. |
| Few of the hostages remembered seeing this little man, no more than 4-foot-9. Almost none remembered his name. | Few of the hostages remembered seeing this little man, no more than 4-foot-9. Almost none remembered his name. |
| The man, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, went on to become the boogeyman of the Sahara. More than a dozen other Europeans would languish in his desert camps. From $200,000 per hostage in 2003, his fighters succeeded in securing ransom up to $10 million per foreigner. | The man, Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, went on to become the boogeyman of the Sahara. More than a dozen other Europeans would languish in his desert camps. From $200,000 per hostage in 2003, his fighters succeeded in securing ransom up to $10 million per foreigner. |
| When Britain made clear that it would not pay a ransom in 2009 for the release of a 61-year-old Briton, Edwin Dyer, Mr. Abu Zeid had him executed. It is this man — captured here on video for the first time — who showed the rest of Al Qaeda’s global network how to turn kidnapping into a lucrative business. | When Britain made clear that it would not pay a ransom in 2009 for the release of a 61-year-old Briton, Edwin Dyer, Mr. Abu Zeid had him executed. It is this man — captured here on video for the first time — who showed the rest of Al Qaeda’s global network how to turn kidnapping into a lucrative business. |
| Mr. Abu Zeid died in a hail of gunfire last year in the same desert where his initial victims were held. | Mr. Abu Zeid died in a hail of gunfire last year in the same desert where his initial victims were held. |
| Abdelnasser Garboa, a journalist embedded with the African troops leading the operation to flush out the jihadists from northern Mali, said the soldiers found the body of the little man in a pocket underneath a granite boulder. At his side, they found a French passport, said Mr. Garboa. | Abdelnasser Garboa, a journalist embedded with the African troops leading the operation to flush out the jihadists from northern Mali, said the soldiers found the body of the little man in a pocket underneath a granite boulder. At his side, they found a French passport, said Mr. Garboa. |
| It belonged to 78-year-old Michel Germaneau, executed by Abu Zeid’s group in 2010. | It belonged to 78-year-old Michel Germaneau, executed by Abu Zeid’s group in 2010. |
| Al Qaeda’s most prolific kidnapper had held on to the passport of his victim, and had died next to his prized trophy. | Al Qaeda’s most prolific kidnapper had held on to the passport of his victim, and had died next to his prized trophy. |