Sahara Hostage Fund Results
 

Message from Yves L, desert-info.org

Dear Donors,
We can finally announce the distribution of your generous donations regarding last year’s kidnappings in Algeria. Many things took more time than expected: the careful clarification of the use of the money, considering the advice offered and the co-ordination
between the administrators. The confused information which prevailed during the kidnapping unfortunately persisted and the distribution of the funds did not accord with formal accounting procedures.
,.
It was a wish, not only by some of the ex-hostages, to donate part of the money collected to a local, charity project in the area involved near the kidnapping.
We are conscious that we cannot meet all desires. The quadrature of the circle [quartering/account of the total?] was requested but unfortunately is not possible in this case. We are however convinced that our decision will be accepted by the majority of the donors.

The use below applies only to the following accounts:
o Moto Event route in Besigheim Boennigheim
o Sahara Info.ch, Alosen Switzerland.
These accounts include the collections from Austria (George Zenz) and the
international collection (Chris Scott, Sahara Overland).
The accounts of the Dutch collection and the collection of Martin Hainz
(father of one of the-hostages) have already been distributed.



Details:

1. Mr. Ahmed Zegri, Agence Mezrirene, Illizi:
Search activity from 8.3.03 until 15.5.03: 1282EUR, total 8'282 EUR (7000
EUR from the Hainz/Schäfer account).
2. Indemnisation for stolen food in Algeria by the kidnappers (several
100kg): 500 EUR
3. A private search in the Illizi region, ordered by Swiss relatives of
the hostages on 15. and 16.3.03 with 2 vehicles: 43.200'00 DA (= 501EUR
incl. Western Union money transfer).
4. Desert Runner (Peter Schreck) for his activities from 11.3.03 until
19.3.03 : 2000 EUR for travel Toggourt-Illizi and back, leased 4x4 and phone
costs.
5. Search mission with several persons and 4x4 in Algeria, organised by Mrs. Bleckmann, Salzburg.Mission from 12.4.03 until 13.5.03: 8282 EUR.
6. It was also a wish by some of the ex-hostages to use a part of the money collected as donation to a local, charity project. Our investigations are not finished yet, there are two candidates, and we will inform about the project chosen later. 4000EUR had
been reserved for this purpose.
7. Remark: The town of Ausburg, Germany helped to initiate an account
for donations to the children of Mrs. Spitzer, who died during the kidnapping.

Many private people and also companies worked generously without requesting
expenses, thank you!

Unfortunately, the costs for the mission Bleckmann and Mr. Zegri could only
be replaced partially, the same applies for the expenses of Mr. Schreck.
We will await a delay of 10 days before distribution of the money.

The administrators: Wolfgang Auch, Yves Larboulette, Daniela Maack
Kontakt: spenden@desert-info.org

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Note from CS:
The ‘international fund’ via sahara-overland.com managed to raise nearly £1000 in less than a couple of weeks (including payments prised from various newspapers for contributions). Many thanks for your generous contributions and a special thanks to Yves’s hard work. His sahara-info.ch website bore the brunt of the Internet activity and speculation.
The fact that fellow Saharans both at home and in Algeria got on the case with a search as soon as the alarm was raised (and long before the local authorities and media got involved) is something to be proud of.


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Author of Sahara Overland and the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook, among other things

http://www.sahara-overland.com and http://www.adventure-motorcycling.com

Dear Donors,

after our initial release on the use of the fund ten days ago we received several reactions as well as new information. We became aware of some new risks which our decision highlighted as well as some conflicting desires of how to use the money. Most important, the unpredictable legal risks which the intended use of the donations would have on us became apparent.
So we came to the final conclusion to give around 16,556 euros to non political, charity organisations.

Your donations will be used definitely for:

1/3 for a charity project in northern Mali
1/3 for the Algerian Red Cross (Croissant Rouge Algérien)
1/3 Médecins Sans frontières (which operates in Mali and Algeria)

Without any person reclaiming donations this will result in about 5520 euros per organisation.

The private search in the Illizi region had been already paid for by private funds. Regarding the reimbursement for food stolen by the kidnappers in Algeria (several 100kg), 500 EUR has also been paid privately.

Persons, who don't agree to this use of their donation are requested to reclaim their payment in a written form by 31.3.2004.
The address is: spenden@desert-info.org, fax: +41(0) 41-556 75 12.
Please include a receipt of you payment, name and bank account (or pay pal).

The use above applies only to the following accounts:
o Moto Event route in Besigheim Boennigheim
o Sahara Info.ch, Alosen Switzerland.
These accounts include the collections from Austria (George Zenz) and the
international collection (Chris Scott, Sahara Overland).
The accounts of the Dutch collection and the collection of Martin Hainz
(father of one of the-hostages) have already been distributed.

Payments will be released in the first week of April and one week later we will announce the final account.

16.02.2004, the administrators:
Wolfgang Auch, Yves Larboulette, Daniela Maack
contact: spenden@desert-info.org