Albert Vilalta (L) and Roque Pascual, Spanish aid workers who were held hostage for nearly nine months, arrive in Barcelona, early August 24, 2010. The two aid workers held by al Qaeda's North African wing were freed on Monday, ending a kidnapping ordeal in the Sahara Desert that lasted nearly nine months. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) seized Vilalta and Pascual while they were travelling through Mauritania with a relief aid convoy last November, the latest in a string of abductions claimed by the group. REUTERS/Albert Gea (SPAIN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)
Spanish aid worker Roque Pascual (R), who was held hostage for nearly nine months, is embraced by a fellow aid worker after being released as he arrives in Barcelona, early August 24, 2010. Two Spanish aid workers held by al Qaeda's North African wing were freed on Monday, ending a kidnapping ordeal in the Sahara Desert that lasted nearly nine months. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) seized Albert Vilalta and Pascual while they were travelling through Mauritania with a relief aid convoy last November, the latest in a string of abductions claimed by the group. REUTERS/Albert Gea (SPAIN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)
B22 BARCELONA 23/08/2010.- El cooperante Roque Pascual besa a su madre a su llegada al aeropuerto de El Prat, en Barcelona, tras su viaje, que junto a su compañero Albert Vilalta, ha hecho en un avión de la Fuerza Aérea Española procedente de Burkina Faso, tras ser hoy liberados después de permanecer nueve meses secuestrados a manos de Al Qaeda en el Magreb Islámico (AQMI).