A Malian official has revealed that Mali released 180 prisoners who are alleged members of a terrorist group over the weekend.
“Seventy prisoners on Saturday and 110 on Sunday were flown to the country’s north from a prison in the capital Bamako,” the official said.
The official who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media said, “Their release has fuelled speculation that Mali’s main opposition party leader Soumaila Cisse, who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in March, could soon be freed.”
Cisse was campaigning in central Mali ahead of legislative elections on March 29 not far from Timbuktu at the time of his abduction.
