Africa leaders want payment of ransoms made illegal (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - African leaders condemned the payment of kidnap ransoms to free hostages and said the practice should be made illegal because the cash is being used by militants to fund violence. The 53-member African Union adopted a resolution against ransom payments at a summit in Sirte, in Libya. Some countries worry ransoms paid to hostage-takers in Somalia and the northern Sahara could fall into the hands of and its allies. "The (AU) vigorously condemns the payment of ransoms to terrorist groups to secure the freedom of hostages ... (and) asks the international community to criminalize the payment of ransoms to terrorist groups," said the resolution. The resolution, adopted late on Friday, stopped short of binding member states not to make ransom payments. Ransom payments have been brought into focus by a spate of... [read full story]                    

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