Release of four hostages in Mali
(B2) The release of four hostages in Mali is an important point for the new Malian government put in place a few days ago, after the summer military coup
Malian politician and presidential candidate Soumaila Cisse (abducted last March), Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin (abducted nearly four years ago in December 2016) and Italian father Pier Luigi Maccalli (abducted in Niger in 2018) and Nicola Chiacchio were indeed released by the support group for Islam and Muslims or GSIM (affiliated with Al Qaeda).
They were received by the Malian head of state, Bah N'Daw, and vice-president Assimi Goita (1) and prime minister Moctar Ouane, according to the Malian Prime Minister on Twitter.
A release due to combined efforts of intelligence services, armed and security forces, partners of Mali according to the Malian authorities. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi di Maio praised the role played by AISE, the Italian external security and information agency.
Una bella notizia: padre Pier Luigi Maccalli and Nicola Chiacchio sono finally liberi e stanno bene. Erano stati rapiti da un gruppo jihadista. Grazie alla nostra intelligence, in particolare all'Aise, ea tutti coloro che hanno lavorato per riportarli a casa. 🇮🇹
— Luigi Di Maio (@luigidimaio) October 8, 2020
The release of around 200 prisoners, directly or indirectly linked to the jihadist movement, could have served (among other things) as bargaining chips and facilitated this happy outcome. The payment of a ransom is also not excluded (Italian side). Note also that this is one of the first decisions of the new government resulting from the military coup. We can only rejoice in this release. But we must also remember that there are still six hostages in the desert.
(NGV)
- A soldier with the rank of colonel, head of the Malian special forces, he is one of the instigators of the August 2020 coup. He chaired the national committee for the salvation of the people (CNSP).
