‘Frank’ disagreement among allies on hostage ransoms, British diplomat tells CNN

British and American officials tell CNN they have strong disagreements with some of their closest allies on the issue of ransoms, which their governments have long refused to pay.

Ransom payments, they maintain, are a form of terror financing and provide an incentive for terrorists to continue taking hostages. A senior British diplomat tells CNN his government makes this position “frankly” with allies who do chose to pay.

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“Between point A and point B when you engage in this negotiation, you gather a lot of information about who they are, where they are, where they operate and how they operate,” Voss told CNN. “These are sources of information we’re not taping into in this process.”

“Additionally, if you put a small amount of money in their hands then you then get the opportunity to find out all about how they spend money and who they are doing business with,” he said.

CNN’s Evan Perez and Laura Koran contributed to this report.

CNN