By Tiemoko Diallo
BAMAKO (Reuters) - A son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafiis mediating in the case of two Austrians held by al Qaeda innorth Africa and believes a release could come within hours, anAustrian politician said on Saturday.
Saif al-Islam, who heads the Gaddafi Foundation charity,was in touch with the kidnappers in Mali, a spokesman forCarinthia governor Joerg Haider told Reuters.
"Our information from Libya is that the negotiations inMali have reached a decisive phase and ... in the next fewhours there could be a decision in this matter ... a release,"the spokesman quoted Haider as saying.
But he said it could take longer. "It could be tomorrow orthe next day," he said.
The mediation of Gaddafi's son, who has studied in Austriaand is a friend of right-wing populist Haider, raised somehopes for the release of the two Austrian tourists who wereseized in Tunisia last month and are reported to be held innorthern Mali.
Austrian foreign ministry spokesman PeterLaunsky-Tieffenthal said a meeting of the crisis team dealingwith the hostages on Saturday evening had not been informed ofany imminent release.
"The crisis team has had no indication of that kind ofdramatic development," he told Reuters.
The Algerian-based al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said itseized the two on February 22 and has demanded a ransom and theliberation of 10 militants held in Algeria and Tunisia. It hasset a deadline of midnight on Sunday for its demands to be met.
The spokesman said Haider had spoken to Saif al-Islam anumber of times in the last 24 hours. Asked about reports of aransom, Haider's spokesman said: "We are not concerned with thequestion of ransom money and have not asked."
Saif al-Islam was involved in negotiations last year tofree six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyanchildren with HIV.
Austria has launched an intense diplomatic campaign to tryto obtain the release of Andrea Kloiber, 43, and WolfgangEbner, 51, sending a diplomatic envoy to the Malian capitalBamako and seeking the help of regional states like Libya.
The Austrian envoy in Bamako, Anton Prohaska, said onSaturday he remained hopeful the two would be freed unharmed.
"A deadline is a deadline. We hope for the best and we hopethat nothing drastic will happen," he told Reuters.
"This is a complex situation and we don't want to speculateabout anything and I think it's in the interests of ourcountrymen to keep mum," he said by phone from Bamako.
MALI ARMY FIGHTS TUAREG REBELS
Mali's government has been trying to help Austria obtainthe release of the two tourists. Local military sources believethey are being held at a Saharan Islamist hideout in Mali'sremote northeast region of Kidal that borders with Algeria andNiger.
Al Qaeda has warned that any attempt to launch a militaryoperation to free the captives could result in their death.
In what appeared to be an unrelated incident, Malian Tuaregrebels ambushed an army convoy on Thursday in the north sectorof the Kidal region, near the Algerian border.
Three government soldiers were killed and around 20 morewere captured by the Tuareg insurgent fighters who fled towardsthe frontier with Algeria, Malian officers said.
Envoy Prohaska saw no connection between the Austrianhostages and the clashes to the north of Kidal. "I don't thinkit has anything to do with us," he told Reuters.
Malian officials say the rebel Tuaregs are fighting thearmy presence in the remote region to try to maintain controlof traditional Saharan smuggling routes between Algeria andMali.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
(Additional reporting by Paul Bolding in Vienna and PascalFletcher in Dakar; Writing by Pascal Fletcher and Paul Bolding;Editing by Robert Woodward)
