Marie Curie worker held hostage in Algeria back in Spain after giving captors the slip
Friday, October 31, 2014 @ 8:50 AM
A SPANISH Marie Curie Foundation employee kidnapped by her family in Algeria has escaped, reports her adopted father.
Mahyuba Mohammed Hamdidaf, 24, had been in the disputed Western Sahara territory since late July as appeals and negotiations back in her home country were ongoing.
Ex-president of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, had offered to help, friends and family had set up a petition online and the provincial council had threatened to stop all aid to the Sahara people unless Mahyuba was freed.
The Faculty of Arabic Studies – where Mahyuba studied and gained a top-grade degree – at Alicante University called her being held against her will 'unacceptable' and wrote a formal letter to the Saharan authorities asking them to help their 'brilliant ex-student'.
During her most recent annual visit to her family of origin, Mahyuba's natural parents confiscated her Spanish passport, ordering her to give up her citizenship there, and took her money and mobile phone.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com