Ransom payments fuel terrorism, says UK Foreign Office The Foreign Office has warned that ransom payments to kidnappers around the world are on the increase and that the trend is fuelling terrorism. During the G8 summit at Lough Erne in Northern Ireland, G8 leaders promised to "stamp out" such payments and called on private companies to refuse to give money to kidnappers. An estimated £45m has been paid to free western hostages over the past three years with an average of £1.9m per captive. A large proportion of this cash is thought to end up with terror groups such as al-Qaeda and its affiliates. But the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) warned that kidnappings were on the increase in Syria, Nigeria and the Yemen and that the going rate for release has risen. In the Sahara, for example, the price per hostage has gone from $4m to $5m since 2010, officials said. The UK has banned such payments since the 1970s, on the basis that they encourage more kidnappings. But other nations including Japan, France and Italy are thought to have continued to meet the demands of kidnappers. In the summer, during a terror alert in the Yemen, the local branch of al-Qaeda received £13.5m for the release of hostages from Finland, Austria and Switzerland, according to a BBC report on Friday. Mali has been cited as an example of an al-Qaeda branch thriving on payments for European hostages. French forces reportedly found a letter from the local terrorist commander declaring that his fighting costs had been funded by "spoil from the hostages." Alexander Hitchens, a lecturer in war studies at Kings College London, told the BBC that the Germans had been criticised in the past for paying kidnappers. But really, most recently it's been the French and Spanish and Italian governments. [In October] four French hostages were released from Niger - AQIM hostages - who, it's strongly believed, were released to perhaps a $20m payment," he said. The French government denies public money was used. The FCO said on Friday, "We want others in the international community to follow the G8"s lead so that terrorist groups no longer have any access to finances traditionally secured through ransom payments. We believe this will severely hinder their ability to operate since ransoms represent the single most significant source of terrorist income.