Bamako
Insurgency-hit Mali has freed over 100 alleged or convicted militants to secure the release of a top politician and a French charity worker, sources close to the talks said Monday.
This is a rare mass release of prisoners in the fragile West African country, which is struggling with an eight-year-old insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives.
Soumaila Cisse, a former opposition leader and three-time presidential candidate, was abducted on March 25 while campaigning in his home region of Niafounke ahead of legislative elections.
Sophie Petronin, a French charity worker, was abducted by gunmen on December 24, 2016, in the northern city of Gao. She is presently the last French national held hostage in the world.—APP
