Five associates of kidnapped Mali opposition leader freed

BAMAKO: Five people kidnapped alongside Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse have been freed, his party said on Friday, as officials reported that negotiations were also underway to secure his release. A former finance minister and presidential contender, Cisse and members of his team were kidnapped in jihadist-ridden central Mali last week. Despite a years-long jihadist conflict raging in the West Africa state, his kidnap marked a first for a politician of his rank in the war-torn country. Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives. On Friday, Cisse´s Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) party said in a statement that the party leader and three others remain in captivity. Unidentified gunmen had attacked Cisse´s convoy — which was carrying over a dozen people — when he was campaigning in his electoral district in central Mali on March 25.