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BAMAKO (Reuters) – Two Canadian diplomats and two European tourists held hostage by al Qaeda's north African wing in the Sahara desert have been released, a spokesman for Mali's president said on Wednesday.
Canadian Robert Fowler, a United Nations envoy to Niger, disappeared with his aide last December, while four tourists -- two Swiss, a German and a Briton -- were kidnapped on the Mali-Niger border in January.
"We confirm the release of four hostages," Seydou Cissouma, a spokesman for Mali's president, told Reuters. He said they were the Canadians and two female tourists.
The freed tourists are from Switzerland and Germany.
Earlier this month, a Malian security source said a team of mediators was negotiating the release of the European tourists.
Sources at the United Nations confirmed Fowler and his assistant, Louis Guay, were free.
In Ottawa, a relative of Fowler's, Member of Parliament Dominic LeBlanc, said his understanding was that Fowler was being taken by Malian authorities to the capital of Bamako, and his family hoped to meet him in Europe in a few days.
"Our information is Mr. Fowler is in the custody of the authorities of the government of Mali," LeBlanc said. "They would insure his safety in order for him to get to Bamako, at which point Canadian officials will obviously provide the care ... and hopefully expedite him quickly to visit his family."
Analysts say the Sahara desert in West Africa has become increasingly insecure and the lines between ideology and criminality have become blurred.
Tuareg rebellions are simmering in both Mali and Niger, Islamist groups are seeking to spread their influence south from Algeria and there is a long tradition of trafficking in cigarettes, weapons and people.
A Malian security source told Reuters the hostages had been handed to local authorities in Gao, over 1,000 km (625 miles) northeast of Bamako.
Al Qaeda's north African wing had said it was holding the four tourists, who were taken from Mali into the neighboring Saharan state of Niger, as well as the two Canadians.
The group had demanded 20 of its members be freed from detention in Mali and other countries as a condition for releasing the hostages.
Malian officials initially blamed Tuareg rebels for the January abduction. Military sources in the West African country say al Qaeda hires the nomadic rebels and other armed groups to carry out kidnappings.
The January incident was the worst in Mali since Islamist rebels abducted 32 European tourists in 2003.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, and Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; writing by David Lewis; editing by David Clarke, Charles Dick and Rob Wilson)
Canadian Robert Fowler, a United Nations envoy to Niger, disappeared with his aide last December, while four tourists -- two Swiss, a German and a Briton -- were kidnapped on the Mali-Niger border in January.
"We confirm the release of four hostages," Seydou Cissouma, a spokesman for Mali's president, told Reuters. He said they were the Canadians and two female tourists.
The freed tourists are from Switzerland and Germany.
Earlier this month, a Malian security source said a team of mediators was negotiating the release of the European tourists.
Sources at the United Nations confirmed Fowler and his assistant, Louis Guay, were free.
In Ottawa, a relative of Fowler's, Member of Parliament Dominic LeBlanc, said his understanding was that Fowler was being taken by Malian authorities to the capital of Bamako, and his family hoped to meet him in Europe in a few days.
"Our information is Mr. Fowler is in the custody of the authorities of the government of Mali," LeBlanc said. "They would insure his safety in order for him to get to Bamako, at which point Canadian officials will obviously provide the care ... and hopefully expedite him quickly to visit his family."
Analysts say the Sahara desert in West Africa has become increasingly insecure and the lines between ideology and criminality have become blurred.
Tuareg rebellions are simmering in both Mali and Niger, Islamist groups are seeking to spread their influence south from Algeria and there is a long tradition of trafficking in cigarettes, weapons and people.
A Malian security source told Reuters the hostages had been handed to local authorities in Gao, over 1,000 km (625 miles) northeast of Bamako.
Al Qaeda's north African wing had said it was holding the four tourists, who were taken from Mali into the neighboring Saharan state of Niger, as well as the two Canadians.
The group had demanded 20 of its members be freed from detention in Mali and other countries as a condition for releasing the hostages.
Malian officials initially blamed Tuareg rebels for the January abduction. Military sources in the West African country say al Qaeda hires the nomadic rebels and other armed groups to carry out kidnappings.
The January incident was the worst in Mali since Islamist rebels abducted 32 European tourists in 2003.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, and Randall Palmer and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; writing by David Lewis; editing by David Clarke, Charles Dick and Rob Wilson)
