Mali: Escapee Was Suspect in Frenchmen’s Kidnapping
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Version 0 of 1. A fugitive at the heart of a prison break in Mali’s capital on Monday was being held in the 2011 kidnapping of two Frenchmen who ended up in the hands of Al Qaeda’s regional faction, sources said Tuesday. Malian officials said the fugitive, Mahamed Aly Ag Wadoussene, shot his way out of Bamako’s central prison, allowing 22 other prisoners to escape. Eight were recaptured. A Malian military official said Mr. Wadoussene organized the kidnapping of the Frenchmen, Philippe Verdon and Serge Lazarevic in 2011. Mr. Verdon was killed by his captors in northern Mali last July. Mr. Lazarevic appeared in a video this month appealing to President François Hollande of France to negotiate his release. |