Militants kill British hostage in Sahara

Al Qaeda's North Africa wing said yesterday it had carried out its threat to kill a British hostage it was holding in the Sahara.

Britain said it had reason to believe the hostage, Edwin Dyer, had been killed and Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the killing as "a barbaric act of terrorism".

The group had said it would kill the Briton if the British Government did not release Abu Qatada, a Jordanian it is holding in prison.

The hostage was killed on May 31 after a second deadline for their demands expired, the group said in a statement on a website used by al Qaeda-linked groups.

Last month, Algerian media reported the group was demanding €10 million ($21.69 million) in exchange for the Briton and another hostage, a Swiss national, being held in the Sahara.