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Al-Qaida issues threat

Al-Qaida's North African wing threatened yesterday to kill a British hostage if Britain did not release a Jordanian Islamist it was holding.

"We demand that Britain release Sheikh Abu Qatada, who is unjustly (held), for the release of its British citizen. We give it 20 days as of the issuance of this statement," Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb said in a posting on an Islamist website. "When this period expires the mujahideen will kill the British hostage," it said.