Malian Prime Minister Choguel Maïga made the statement on Thursday during a trip inside Mali. The French journalist held hostage for nearly two years by jihadists was released ten days ago in Niger.
With our regional correspondent, Serge Daniel
This is the first time that a Malian official has spoken about this affair. Malian Prime Minister Choguel Maïga does not pronounce the name of the ex-hostage Olivier Dubois, but the allusion is quite clear: ” The last time a hostage taken here in Mali was freed in a neighboring country, it was a Malian who helped to free him, which many do not know. »
In front of the crowd, the head of the Malian government adds that the role of the Malian army on the ground in the north also contributed to the release of the French journalist held hostage for nearly two years by jihadists: “ there is a propaganda video which says that it was the army of another country which freed the hostages, that the Malians could do nothing. The opposite happened. We have the evidence because everything we do, we record, for history. »
The toll of losses in the ranks of the jihadists who held the two hostages is heavy according to Choguel Maïga who insists: now, the jihadist group in support of Islam and Muslims (the Jnim) is weakened or even destabilized. And to end on this chapter kidnapping and hostage releases “, he launched a few spades against a neighboring country, without naming it.
► Read also: Olivier Dubois: “I continued to do my job as an inside journalist”