Negotiations stalled on prisoner release

ALGIERS, Algeria, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Negotiations over the release of two Austrian hostages by the Algerian wing of al-Qaida have stalled over internal disputes within the terrorist organization.

Austrian security authorities say progress was being made over the release of Andrea Kloiber and Wolfgang Ebner, but has since been halted because of an internal conflict with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, Adnkronos reported.

Kloiber and Ebner were vacationing in Tunisia when they were kidnapped by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.

Negotiations between Austrian authorities and the terrorist organization had come to a head after Austria accepted a ransom deal "in principle" of more than $7 million.

Despite the Austrian agreement, the leader of the al-Qaida faction in the Algerian mountains, Abdel Malik Droukedel, is now in a dispute with Yahya Jawadi, a leader of the terrorist group's Tareq Bin Ziyad Brigade.

Officials say Jawadi is "unlikely to agree to the deal," Adnkronos reported.