Algerian diplomats abducted in northern Mali

An unidentified group has abducted Algeria’s consul in the northern Mali town of Gao along with six other consular workers, the Algerian foreign minister was quoted as saying on Thursday.

   “Algeria’s consul in Gao and five consular officials were forced to leave the diplomatic mission building. They are currently under the control of parties which we do not know,” the official APS news agency quoted Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci as saying.

“The Algerian government is doing everything possible to ensure they are freed as quickly as possible,” he said.

The town is under the control of Tuareg-led separatists who want to create an independent homeland in northern Mali and who in the past few weeks have driven out government forces