Three Algerian diplomats held hostage by suspected Islamist militants in Mali have appealed to their government to secure their release. The three men are among seven diplomats seized in April while working at the Algerian consulate in Gao in northern Mali. Gao is part of a swath of territory in northern Mali now under the control of Tuareg-led separatists.
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al-Qaeda has a new refuge… the deserts of Northern Mali. This report captures the food crisis and exodus of half a million people, caused by the Islamist enactment of harsh Sharia Laws in the north of the country. There, al-Qaeda has driven out the struggling national army, seized their weapons and is now fly the al-Qaeda flag. “We’re frightened because there’s no government we can trust to protect us from the armed groups,” says Maulud Ibrahim, a Tuareg refugee.
“When we’ve conquered France, we’ll come to the USA, we’ll come to London and conquer the whole world,” says a military commander from the local al-Qaeda ally, Defenders of the Faith. For Tiebile Drame, the former Foreign Minister, the situation is getting serious. “The rest of the world should not stay just to look at the situation, we should be helped unless they would like to see another Somalia or another Afghanistan.” H/T Journeyman.TV
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