AQIM: We're not responsible for the fate of the Austrian Hostages.

This does not bode well for their safety.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa posted a new Internet message on Monday saying it won't be held responsible for the fate of two Austrian tourists it kidnapped two months ago, according to a U.S. group that monitors jihadist Internet traffic .

In the posting, the al-Qaida affiliate claimed it was «absolving» itself of responsibility for what happens to the Austrians and also set new demands that include the release of two Muslim prisoners in Austria, the Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group said.

The posting came just hours after a deadline by al-Qaida for conditions to be met for the Austrians' release expired at midnight Sunday.
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The new al-Qaida posting blasted Austrian authorities and said Vienna would be held responsible for the lives and the «unknown fate of the kidnapped.»

It didn't elaborate on what that fate would be. «Austria has shown disregard and carelessness regarding its citizens, despite the flexibility of the mujahideen in their legitimate demands,» the al-Qaida statement said, according to SITE.

In Vienna, ...

...Launsky-Tieffenthal said authorities were aware of the Monday posting but that it was too early to comment because experts were in the process of analyzing it. «We are aware of it and looking into it,» Launsky-Tieffenthal said.

The kidnapped Austrians exact location remains unclear. Media reports have placed them near the Algerian border in the West African nation of Mali and Austrian officials have been in the country's capital Bamako.

Al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa first said in a March 10 audio recording that it kidnapped the two because of Western cooperation with Israel. Unconfirmed media reports have suggested that the kidnappers are also demanding a ransom.

The Associated Press could not independently access the latest posting, but in a transcript provided by SITE, al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa said it was waiving earlier demands that its members held in Tunisia be released, and instead was now demanding that a Muslim husband and wife be set free from an Austrian jail and that Austria pull out its four officers from Afghanistan.

The Muslim pair, identified in Monday's posting as Mohammed Mahmoud, a.k.a Gharib al-Diyar, and his wife, were said to have been arrested in Austria in Sept. 2007 in connection to a production of a video threatening Austria and Germany with attacks if they didn't withdraw military personnel from Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida's affiliate said the pair was held in the «Guantanamo of Austria» and urged the public to press Austrian authorities with calls for their release.

The two, who according to Vienna officials are an Austrian couple, were convicted in March of making terror threats on targets in Germany and Austria. The man, identified in Austria only as Mohamed M., 22, was sentenced to four years in prison. His wife, 21, identified as Mona S., was convicted for helping him and sentenced to 22 months in prison.