A jihadist group in the sub-Saharan region of Sahel in Africa claims it holds the Romanian who was kidnapped in Burkina Faso in April and asked the Romanian Government to pay serious attention to negotiations for his release, according to an audio recording to Voice Of America.

The Romanian was a security officer at a manganese mine in Tambao, in Burkina Faso. Armed people kidnapped him on April 4, but no credible ransom request was made, reports local Mediafax.

The jihadi group which now claims it holds the Romanian prisoner is called Al-Mourabitoune.

The audio message was released on behalf of Adnan Abou Walid Sahraoui, who claims he’s the group leader. He pledged his group’s allegiance to ISIS last week, and is currently fighting for control over the group with Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who is connected to Al-Qaida.

editor@romania-insider.com