France

The release on Thursday night of the four hostages in Mali, Soumaïla Cissé, Sophie Pétronin and the two Italians, Nicola Chiacchio and father Pier Luigi Maccalli, came after long and difficult negotiations with a long uncertain outcome. A ransom would have been paid and many jihadists were released by the Malian authorities. A look back at what we know about the negotiations and the compensation required. with our correspondent in Bamako, On April 5, a few days after the kidnapping of Soumaïla Cissé, the then Prime…

The plane with ex-hostages Sophie Pétronin has just landed at Villacoublay airport near Paris. The flight had started a few hours earlier from Bamako, Mali. Franco-Suisse spent almost four years in captivity in the Sahel. She was greeted by French President Emmanuel Macron. With our special envoys to Villacoublay, Marine from…

Sophie Pétronin, a French aid worker who was the last French hostage in the world, landed in the capital Bamako to have an emotional reunion with her son after being released along with a top Malian politician. Mali announced the release of Frenchwoman Sophie Pétronin, 75, and Malian politician Soumaïla Cisséon on Thursday along…

Auxiliary worker Sophie Pétronin was released on Thursday, October 8th. An event that puts an end to almost four years of captivity. Sophie Petronin had already narrowly escaped the kidnapping of terrorists in 2012. Previously, the French woman had worked since 2001 in favor of orphaned and malnourished children in Gao. In 2012, she was able to leave the Algerian consulate, where she had sought refuge, at the last minute and be filtered out of the country in disguise before the jihadists took control of the area. The…

The Malian presidency on Thursday confirmed that French charity worker Sophie Pétronin, who was abducted in Mali and held hostage since December 2016, has been released. "The Presidency of the Republic confirms the release of Soumaïla Cissé and Mrs Sophie Pétronin. The former hostages are on their way to Bamako, "the Malian…

Two hostages, the French Sophie Pétronin and the Malian opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé, were released on Thursday, October 8, 2020. This release comes after the release of several dozen jihadists by the Malian authorities. The last French hostage still held in the world, Sophie Pétronin, as well as Soumaïla Cissé, a major Malian politician who until then is believed to be in the hands of jihadists, have been released, the Malian presidency announced on social networks on Thursday. The Presidency of the Republic…

Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian heard from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday and reacted to Alassane Ouattara's candidacy before also giving his opinion on the situation in Cameroon. Communist Deputy Jean-Paul Lecoq first asked the Foreign Minister what France's position was on Alassane Ouattara's candidacy. Response from Jean-Yves Le Drian: “Me, I am not responsible for assessing the new constitution for Côte d'Ivoire. That would really be interference. And you know very well, Mr Lecoq,…

This decision was taken in late September by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, which regulates asylum applications in France, and was published on Tuesday. According to the President of Ofpra, it is motivated by "the situation of public and political freedoms in this country". The organization believes that Benin no longer meets the definition of these "safe…

A French couple were arrested in early October in the Limoges with 20,000 euros in moldy banknotes in their possession. Banknotes coming from shares plundered at Benghazi's central bank in Libya in late 2017. At that time, the city center, where the establishment is located, was taken from the Islamists by the forces of Khalifa Haftar. And witnesses accuse the son of the strong man from the eastern part of the country of having seized this liquidity flowing from Europe. By the end of 2017, the center of Benghazi was still…

Deputies passed the bill on the return of works of art in Benin and Senegal. But will there be other projects of this type in the coming months? Six countries on the continent have so far made requests. The government can rub hands. The text was not only voted on by deputies, it was adopted almost unanimously after 2 hours of peaceful debate. Almost everyone praised the initiative. Senators, in turn, were to follow suit in early November. The Director wants this text to be finally adopted before the end of the year.…