Mali: hostages Sophie Pétronin and Soumaïla Cissé have been released
Sophie Pétronin was kidnapped in the Gao area in northern Mali in 2016. Souleymane AG ANARA / AFP
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Two hostages, the French Sophie Pétronin and the Malian opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé, were released this Thursday, October 8, 2020. This release comes after the release of several dozen jihadists by the Malian authorities.
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One, Sophie Pétronin, has been held in Mali since December 24, 2016. She had been kidnapped while she was working as a humanitarian worker in Gao.
The other, Soumaïla Cissé, leader of the Malian opposition, was kidnapped by armed men in northern Mali last March while he was campaigning for the legislative elections.
These two releases took place after the release by the Malian authorities of several dozen jihadists and suspected jihadists.
Discussions had been underway between the Malian authorities and the kidnappers for months.
Behind the scenes of liberation
The sequence of liberation begins over the weekend, when several dozen jihadist prisoners are released from their cells and conveyed to Tessalit, in the far north of Mali.
They are accused of belonging to jihadist terrorist groups linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Various sources, security and legal, confirm that they must be used as currency.
This is the first consideration.
How many are there exactly?
100?
150?
200?
The various sources contacted claim that they cannot be precise: these extra-judicial releases are by definition secret and, if some prisoners were held at the Central Detention Center in Bamako, others would leave State Security sites, the Malian intelligence services.
In any case, a large, very large number, even of fighters, is on the table.
Was the decision to release them taken by the new Malian authorities?
By the deposed president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, without being able to complete the operation?
Has France been consulted?
Or the United Nations Mission in the country?
The second counterpart is the ransom.
At this stage, only rumors are circulating, no reliable information.
During previous hostage releases in the area, the amounts reached several tens of millions of euros.
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