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Vienna: A son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is mediating over two Austrians held by Al Qaida in North Africa and is hopeful they will be freed soon, an Austrian politician was quoted as saying.
Saif Al Islam, who heads the Gaddafi Foundation charity, has been in touch with the kidnappers, Carinthia governor Joerg Haider was quoted as saying late on Friday.
Haider said, "Saif is negotiating with the kidnappers and in his own words he is hopeful that the whole thing will work out positively."
The captives, Andrea Kloiber, 43, and Wolfgang Ebner, 51, went missing while on holiday in Tunisia last month.
In internet postings on Islamist forums, Al Qaida has demanded a ransom and the liberation of 10 militants held in Algeria and Tunisia. It set a deadline of midnight on Sunday for its demands to be met.
Saif Al Islam, whose foundation in 2000 helped free hostages held by Muslim rebels in the Philippines, is a regular visitor to Austria where he studied in the late 1990s, befriending Austrian right-wing populist Haider.
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