InfoAnda - Swiss Al-Qaeda hostage freed in Mali

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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Africa Europe Latin America Middle East North America Search Search: Swiss Al-Qaeda hostage freed in Mali AFP - 1 hour 14 minutes ago TIMBUKTU, Mali (AFP) - - A Swiss hostage abducted in January by a branch of Al-Qaeda has been freed in northern Mali, officials said Sunday, after recent fighting between Malian troops and the militants. ADVERTISEMENT The news came after fierce clashes between Malian soldiers and Al-Qaeda fighters in the country's northern desert region of Gao, where hostage Werner Greiner was freed. It also follows the execution of a British hostage kidnapped along with Greiner. "The Swiss Foreign Ministry learnt with joy that the efforts towards the liberation of the last Swiss hostage in Mali has been successful," said a ministry statement. "The last hostage has been freed in Mali. The Swiss citizen has been taken care of medically and will be repatriated to Switzerland to rest," it added, thanking the Mali authorities for their support. The statement from Geneva confirmed earlier comments from a source close to local Malian authorities. "The Swiss hostage has been freed, he is very tired, and will soon be reunited with his family, after first passing through Bamako," the source told AFP. Greiner was freed in Gao region in the country's northern desert, where dozens of people were reported killed this month in violent clashes between the Malian army and fighters from Al-Qaeda's north African branch. He was abducted on January 22 and was the last western hostage still being held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) of six westerners seized in the Sahel region in December and January. He was snatched along with his wife Gabriella Burco and fellow tourists Marianne Petzold of Germany and British national Edwin Dyer in Niger, near the border with Mali. Burco and Petzold were released on April 22, along with two Canadian diplomats kidnapped in December. But on June 3 the extremist group announced on a website that it had beheaded Dyer because London would not meet its demands. It was the first time the group had killed a western hostage. Swiss officials condemned the killing as a "barbaric act" but insisted it would not deter them from making "intense efforts" to seek the release of Greiner. Earlier this month an official in northern Mali involved in the talks with the kidnappers said the Swiss national was in poor shape. "He is hardly eating at all. He is suffering a lot. We are very worried," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. Another negotiator had also expressed concern, saying: "The kidnappers have not yet killed him but he is in a critical state." Following Dyer's execution, Mali had stepped up efforts to hunt down the Al-Qaeda militants, with President Amadou Toumani Toure announcing all-out war on the group. According to the army, dozens of people were killed on July 4 in the deadliest clashes yet reported in the northwestern desert region between government troops and Al-Qaeda fighters. AQIM claimed to have killed 28 soldiers and taken three prisoner in an ambush against an army convoy after a "ferocious battle". It would only confirm one death in its ranks, of a Mauritanian combatant. Captain Ali Diakite in the Mali army chief of staff dismissed the group's claims as "pure propaganda", saying there were dozens of dead on both sides "but the terrorists lost the most men". At the city's main military base a sergeant told AFP he had received training from US military instructors on fighting Al-Qaeda in the desert. "The training lasted several weeks. I'm putting that into use," he said. "The international community is on our side and we hope it will come to our help soon," local authority employee Abdramane Keita told AFP, showing a business card with the name "ambassador Vicki Huddleston," from the Pentagon. "She came with the US generals and promised her country would help us," Keita said. Although essentially based in Algeria, in the past three years AQIM has extended its operations to the Sahel region and in recent weeks to Mali. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: War On Terror Swiss Al-Qaeda hostage freed in MaliAFP - 1 hour 14 minutes ago UK-World SummaryReuters - 1 hour 41 minutes ago Afghans turn to Taliban in fear of own policeReuters - 2 hours 23 minutes ago Up to 200 rebels dead in Afghan offensive: govtAFP - Monday, July 13 Related Articles: World Fighting kills at least 43 in Somali capitalReuters - Monday, July 13 AP source: Holder considering torture probeAP - Monday, July 13 Hurricane Carlos heading west over the PacificAP - Monday, July 13 AU soldiers help Somali forces as fighting ragesAP - Monday, July 13 Obama urges patience on economic stimulus planAP - Monday, July 13 Enlarge Photo A Malian soldier patrols the northeastern town of Kidal. A Swiss hostage abducted in January by a branch of Al-Qaeda has been freed in northern Mali, officials said, after recent fighting between Malian troops and the militants. 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