Algeria: Foreign tourists leave early following kidnapping of Italian

Algiers, 9 Feb. (AKI) - Foreign tourists are leaving Algeria in droves following last week's kidnapping of an Italian tourist, Algerian newspaper El-Khabar reported.

Hundreds of mostly European tourists have either returned home early or cancelled plans to visit the north African country, the Wednesday report said.

The situation poses a threat to the country's tourist industry which employs 50 thousand people, El-Khabar said.

A 53-year-old Italian was kidnapped last week in the Sahara desert in southern Algeria.

She was abducted in the far south, 170 kilometres from Djanet, an oasis city in southeast Algeria, the report said, citing an unnamed source.

Authorities have said the northern Africa Al-Qaeda branch Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIB, is responsible for the kidnapping.

AQIM has abducted Europeans including tourists and aid workers.