THE PRESIDENT of Mali has said he is “absolutely certain” that seven hostages captured by Islamist militants in Niger in September are not in his country’s territory.
The five French citizens, a Togolese and a Madagascan were working for French-owned companies in northern Niger when they were taken by the group calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim).
They are among about 20 foreigners kidnapped by Aqim in the Sahel region of north Africa over the past two years. While western governments believe the hostages are being held in the remote desert of northern Mali, president Amadou Toumani Touré said no country had succeeded in identifying their location.
“I’m absolutely certain they’re not here,” Mr Touré said. “I’m not saying they weren’t in Mali at one point or another, but as I speak to you, I’m absolutely certain – our military forces and our services have carried out extensive investigations – that these people are not currently in Mali.”
Mr Touré said Aqim units were highly mobile and he suspected the hostages had been dispersed.
“They take precautions. If they eat somewhere, they don’t spend the night there. If they have breakfast somewhere, they don’t spend the day there. They are constantly on the move.”
The Aqim threat in the vast desert that spans parts of Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria – also one of the busiest smuggling corridors for drugs, arms and illegal migrants en route to Europe – has caused tensions between regional and western governments. One senior western diplomat in Bamako, the Malian capital, described Mr Touré’s suggestion that the hostages were not in the country as being “contrary to all the evidence we can show”.
An account of a meeting between senior French and US officials in December last year, released this week by WikiLeaks, noted that Aqim in the Sahel had increased “the scope and sophistication” of its operations and that the region had become France’s “main area of concern” in sub-Saharan Africa.
Some governments privately accuse Mali of not doing enough to confront Aqim, but Mr Touré disputed this, saying the militants could only be defeated through regional co-operation.
His government believed re-establishing a state presence and advancing development work in the north was critical in depriving the militants of support.
“No country has so far succeeded in defeating them. There are countries which, despite very large means, have been struggling against it for decades,” he said.
“It’s also worth underlining that, whether it’s Mali, Mauritania or Niger, no country can do it alone.”
In July, a joint Franco-Mauritanian raid was carried out in Mali in an unsuccessful attempt to free an elderly Frenchman being held by Aqim. Mr Touré said he did not give his approval for the controversial mission in advance.
“We were surprised by the raid,” he said. “From a humanitarian standpoint, we would have been very pleased if he was freed. But unfortunately we weren’t informed.”