| [Maghrebia] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Wednesday (April 22nd) released in Mali four foreign hostages who had been held for months, international news agencies reported. UN special envoy to Niger Robert Fowler and his assistant were abducted last December near Niamey, Niger, while the two female tourists from Germany and Switzerland were kidnapped in January along the Niger border. The hostages arrived early Thursday in Bamako after flying from an undisclosed location in Mali's northern desert region bordering Algeria, Mauritania and Niger. Two male hostages, a Swiss and a Briton, remain held by the kidnappers. In an audio recording broadcast by Qatari satellite TV channel Aljazeera in February, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. |