(Updates with separatist blaming Islamists)
ALGIERS, April 5 (Reuters) – The Algerian consul and six
consular staff have been abducted in the northern Mali town of
Gao, now controlled by Tuareg-led separatists, the Algerian
government said on Thursday.
But a spokesman for the separatist rebels said they had
nothing to do with the abduction, blaming instead Islamists who
fought alongside the Tuaregs to drive government forces out of
northern Mali.
“Algeria’s consul in Gao and six consular officials were
forced to leave the diplomatic mission building. They are
currently under the control of parties which we do not know,”
Algeria’s official APS news agency quoted Foreign Minister
Mourad Medelci as saying.
“The Algerian government is doing everything possible to
ensure they are freed as quickly as possible,” he said.
The separatists, known as the MNLA, want to create an
independent homeland in northern Mali and in the past few weeks
have driven out government forces from the region.
A spokesman for the MNLA in Gao, Mohamed Ag Attaher, told
Reuters by telephone: “The consul and his family were taken this
morning from their residence.”
“It was the Islamists, not the MNLA. The Islamists are doing
this to sabotage our activities,” he said.
Algeria is Mali’s northern neighbour. It has been fighting a
long campaign against Islamist militants on its own soil and its
officials are frequently targeted for attacks by al Qaeda’s
north African branch.
(Reporting by Christian Lowe in Algiers and Mark John in Dakar;
Editing by Tim Pearce)
