Swiss missionary kidnapped in Mali

[iolsa]

Armed gunmen have kidnapped a Swiss missionary from the northern Malian town of Timbuktu, according to witnesses who spoke to dpa on Monday.

The missionary, who was known in Timbuktu by her first name, Beatrice, was in her forties, witnesses said. She spoke the local languages, Sonrai and Tamasheq, and had lived in the town for some time, selling Bibles and running a farming project for women.

She was seen being driven away in a pick-up truck on Sunday afternoon, they said.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping,  witnesses said the Islamist faction Ansar Dine, which seized power in the town along with several other rebel groups earlier this month, and imposed sharia law, is suspected.

A March 22 coup by mutinous soldiers in Mali allowed separatist rebels to push forward and seize the key towns of Kidal and Gao, as  well as Timbuktu.

The coup leaders have since stepped down in the capital Bamako, paving the way for elections to be organized by interim leader Dioncounda Traore.

On Friday Traore called for the opening of a "humanitarian corridor" to permit food and medication to reach people affected by  food insecurity in the north.

Malian journalist Makanfing Konate, currently in Timbuktu, toldand Algeria. "Business has picked up a little," he said. "People have products to buy, but not much money to buy them with."

All the banks in Timbuktu were looted and shut down after the rebels arrived in the town, Konate said. The hospital is barely functioning, he added. - Sapa-dpa



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[EmekaWilson]

Are they trying to learn from Nigeria....kidnapping is simply evil

[sylvelity009]

Hmmm,
Mali u people want to copy Nigeria abi?