ALEPPO — Judicial sources in the Syrian city of Aleppo have said that a ransom of nearly 11 million euros was paid last January for the release of Italian aid workers Greta Ramelli, 21, and Vanessa Marzullo, 22. 

  They were abducted together in Abzimo in July 2014 and had been working for the aid group Horryaty at the time of their abduction.

    The sources have revealed that one of the individuals involved in the ransom negotiations, Hussam Atrash, was convicted by an "Islamic tribunal" of the Nureddin Zenki Movement for having pocketed nearly half of the ransom money (4.5 million of the 12.5 million dollars). The remaining 7.5 million dollars have allegedly been divided among local warlords. 

   When the aid workers were released in January, rumours circulated suggesting that Italy had paid a ransom to the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda to free them. Foreign Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, responded that these suggestions were based on “unfounded rumours” from terrorist organisations, and asserted that the Italian government is against paying ransom to free hostages.

  However, Italy has had a track record of paying ransoms for the safe return of citizens, which has been controversial with countries such as Britain and the United States, who firmly believe that giving over money only encourages additional abductions and could even end up funding terror attacks.