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At least 22 dead as gunmen seize more than 100 at Mali hotel
AFP
November 21, 2015, 6:40 am
Bamako (AFP) - Suspected Islamist gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Mali's capital Friday, firing automatic weapons and seizing more than 100 guests and staff in a hostage-taking that has left at least 22 people dead.
Special forces carried out a dramatic floor-by-floor rescue at the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, according to local television and security sources, eventually ending the siege about nine hours after it had begun.
The assault added to fears about the global jihadist threat a week after the Paris massacre that left 130 people dead although it was not immediately clear if there was a link.
Malian television broadcast chaotic scenes from inside the hotel as police and other security personnel ushered bewildered and terrified guests along corridors and across the main lobby.
"They currently have no more hostages in their hands and forces are in the process of tracking them down," Security Minister Salif Traore told a news conference.
Malian security sources said at least 22 hostages had been killed, adding that French special forces were "participating in operations alongside Malians".
Two of the gunmen had been killed, according to a Malian military source.
"The hostage-taking is over. We are in the process of securing the hotel," the source said on condition of anonymity, as civil protection officers removed the victims in orange body bags.
Two US special forces troops who happened to be at the nearby US embassy for meetings assisted in the rescue of six Americans.
The palatial 190-room Radisson, regarded as one of west Africa's best hotels, attracts entrepreneurs, tourists and government officials from across the world with its luxury spa, outdoor pool and conference suites.
Foreign guests described seeing a light-skinned man lying dead on the floor as they escaped early on.
Witnesses described around a dozen armed assailants, while security sources spoke of two or three "jihadist" attackers.
A paramedic said three security guards had been wounded while an AFP correspondent saw a police officer, who had been shot, being evacuated by security forces.
An AFP photographer saw a white man appear several times at a window on the second second floor, apparently waving in desperation for help.
- Smell of smoke -
A Chinese tourist quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency said the "smell of smoke spread through the corridors and rooms, the Internet was cut and the hotel reception was unresponsive to phone calls".
The men are believed to have entered the hotel around 0700 GMT at the same time as a car with diplomatic plates, with many guests still in their rooms.
A Belgian regional assembly official, in Mali for a convention, was among those killed, the parliament said.
India said 20 of its nationals were among the hostages while Xinhua said at least seven Chinese were involved.
Twelve Air France employees were in a "safe place", the company announced, while seven Turkish Airlines crew members were freed.
Seven Algerians and two Germans were also freed while the status of four Belgian guests remains unclear.
Malian soldiers, police and special forces were at the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.
- Security questions -
Paris was sending around 40 officers from an elite French unit of paramilitary police specialised in hostage situations.
France has more than 1,000 troops in its former colony, a key battleground of Operation Barkhane, a counter-terror mission spanning five countries in Africa's restive Sahel region.
Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was in Chad for a summit of regional leaders, cut short his trip to fly home.
Questions were raised over security at the hotel, with one regular guest, a French consultant, telling AFP metal detector tests were not always used on cars entering the compound.
The attack follows a hotel siege in August in the central Mali town of Sevare in which five UN workers were killed along with four soldiers and four attackers.
Five people, including a French citizen and a Belgian, were killed in an assault on a Bamako restaurant in March, the first such incident in the capital targeting Westerners.
Islamist groups have waged attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal between former Tuareg rebels in the north and rival pro-government armed groups.
The north fell under the control of Tuareg rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in mid-2012.
The Islamists sidelined the Tuareg to take sole control but were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.
They have since launched sporadic attacks from desert hideouts and large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.
In a recording authenticated by Malian authorities this week, a jihadist leader in Mali denounced the peace deal and called for further attacks against France.
Mali was hunting Saturday for suspects wanted over the jihadist siege at a luxury hotel that left 19 people dead, mostly foreigners, as the president warned that no-one in the world could hide from terrorism.
The government has declared a state of emergency after the bloody nine-hour hostage-taking at the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital Bamako on Friday, exactly a week after the Paris massacre.
The Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, nicknamed the "Uncatchable" or "Mr Marlboro", claimed the attack.
Gunmen went on the rampage from the early morning, shooting in the corridors and taking 170 guests and staff hostage.
The assault, which ended when Malian and international troops stormed the hotel, left 19 people dead as well as two attackers, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said.
The victims included six Russians, three Chinese, two Belgians, an American, a Senegalese and a member of the Malian special forces.
Authorities are now "actively pursuing" at least three people over the attack in the former French colony, one security source told AFP.
- 'Value of life' -
Keita, who vowed in a televised address on the day of the siege that "terror will not win", visited the site Saturday.
"Nowhere in the world is one safe from these barbarians from another era," he said, adding that the attackers had "decided to break with humanity".
Mali will begin three days of national mourning Monday.
"It's very scary. It's as if Bamako has become a war zone," said local teacher Oumar Keita. "How were they able to get here, how did they get the weapons?"
Security remained tight around the Radisson and other hotels in Bamako and was also boosted discreetly at public buildings and banks.
The attack came as fears mount over jihadist threats a week after 130 people died in the Paris attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, which also said it had downed a Russian passenger jet in Egypt on October 31.
US President Barack Obama and his Russian and Chinese counterparts Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping condemned the hotel siege.
"This barbarity only stiffens our resolve to meet this challenge," Obama said of the global terrorist threat.
Mali has been torn apart by unrest since the north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.
The Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched the following year, but large swathes of Mali remain lawless.
UN chief also condemned Friday's "horrific terrorist attack," suggesting the violence was aimed at destroying peace efforts.
- Dramatic rescue -
The assault began around 0700 GMT, when gunmen arrived at the hotel and starting shooting their way inside, taking guests and staff hostage.
Malian television broadcast chaotic scenes from inside as police and other security personnel ushered bewildered guests along corridors to safety.
Special forces -- including Malian, French and two US soldiers who were also in the area -- staged a dramatic floor-by-floor rescue, ending the siege after about nine hours.
In an audio recording broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Belmokhtar's group claimed responsibility, saying it had worked with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Belmokhtar, one of the world's most wanted men, was indeed "likely" the brains behind the assault.
The jihadist is also accused of spearheading an attack on an Algerian gas plant in 2013 in which around 40 hostages were killed, most of them Westerners.
Guinean singer Sekouba Bambino Diabate, who was among the survivors, told AFP the gunmen spoke English among themselves.
France has more than 1,000 troops in its former colony, a key battleground of the Barkhane counter-terror mission spanning five countries in Africa's restive Sahel region.
Friday's drama follows another hotel siege in August in the central Mali town of Sevare in which five UN workers and four soldiers were killed.
Five people were also killed in an assault on a Bamako restaurant in March.
Malian soldiers display grenades and other supplies they said belonged to jihadists in front of the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali. Photo: Reuters
Mali security forces are hunting more than three suspects involved in the jihadist attack that killed 21 people at a luxury hotel in the country's capital, an army commander said Saturday.
“The search has started and I can tell you that we are looking for more than three people at the moment,” said Major Modibo Nama Traore.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced the 10-day nationwide state of emergency beginning Friday night at midnight. He said a three-day period of national mourning was due to begin Monday, with flags flying at half-mast.
A coalition of US, French and Malian troops stormed the hotel where a dozen militants were holding more than 170 people hostage in an early-morning raid in the Mali capital Bamako.
The seige came to an end after midnight Hong Kong time after troops secured most the hostages.
Three Chinese executives of the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp, were among those killed in the attack at the Radisson Blu hotel.
Malian rescuers, soldiers and special forces are pictured at the entrance the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako after the raid. Photo: AFP
China’s President Xi Jinping on Saturday ”strongly condemned” the attack on a hotel in Mali which left three Chinese nationals dead among at least 21 killed, state television reported.
“China will strengthen cooperation with international society to resolutely fight violent terrorist activities that hurt innocent lives, to maintain world peace and tranquility,” China Central Television quoted Xi as saying.
U.N. peacekeepers initially counted 27 bodies at the hotel where gunmen had taken more than 100 guests and others captive.
The troops, who were accompanied by Malian soldiers, went room-to-room taking guests out of the hotel in the city centre, a UN official told Bloomberg by e-mail from Bamako.
Mali troopers assist a hostage in orange to leave the vicinity of the Radisson Blu hotel to safety. Photo: AP
Early-morning raid
“Very early in the morning there was gunfire. Apparently it's an attempt to take hostages. The police are there and are sealing off the area,” a source said.
Witnesses in the area said police had surrounded the hotel and were blocking roads leading into the neighbourhood.
The raid by suspected Islamist militants targeted the upmarket hotel, located just west of the city centre in a neighbourhood that is home to government ministries and diplomats.
“Our safety and security teams and our corporate team are in constant contact with the local authorities in order to offer any support possible to re-instate safety and security at the hotel,” the hotel chain said in a statement.
They said they had entered the hotel compound in a car that had diplomatic plates.
Security forces escort a man from the Radison Blu. Photo: AP
“It’s all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor,” one security source said.
Hostages released
One of the rescued hostages, celebrated Guinean singer Sékouba ‘Bambino’ Diabate, said he had overheard two of the assailants speaking in English as they searched the room next to his. “We heard shots coming from the reception area. I didn’t dare go out of my room because it felt like this wasn’t just simple pistols – these were shots from military weapons,” Diabate said.
Security sources in Mali said jihadists had launched a shooting rampage in the 190-room hotel and automatic weapons fire could be heard from outside the building.
Colonel Salif Traoré, Mali's minister of interior security said about 10 gunmen stormed the hotel shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” in Arabic before firing on the guards and taking hostages.
Jihadist group Al Mourabitoun and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Malian troops take position outside the Radisson Blu hotel. Gunmen went on a shooting rampage at the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako, seizing 170 guests and staff in an ongoing hostage-taking, the hotel chain said. Photo: AFP
Some guests also have been able to escape the hotel. Monique Kouame Affoue Ekonde, an Ivorian, said she and six other people were escorted out by security forces.
Northern Mali was occupied by Islamist fighters, some with links to al-Qaeda, for most of 2012.
Islamist groups have continued to wage attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal between former Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and rival pro-government armed groups.
A Chinese guest surnamed Chen told Xinhua via the Wechat mobile app that many gunshots sounded outside his hotel room around 6.30 am, with a few more added later.
Malian rescuers, soldiers and special forces are pictured at the entrance the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako. Photo: EPA
Witnesses could smell smoke in rooms and the hotel corridor. Internet connections were dropping out and phone calls to reception went unanswered.
Photos and videos sent by Chen showed Mali’s riot police at the hotel in a stand off with attackers.
At least seven hostages were Chinese, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Embassies respond
The Chinese Embassy in Mali posted a statement on its website, acknowledging the raid and urging Chinese citizens in Mali to stay indoors.
Malian security forces take position near the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on November 20, 2015. Photo: AFP
“Due to the constant worsening of [the] security situation in Bamako, the Chinese Embassy in Mali reminds Chinese institutions, nationals and overseas Chinese in Mali to step up safety precautions, avoid going out if unnecessary and avoid [the] above mentioned site as well as crowded areas to ensure personal safety,” the statement reads.
China vowed this week to bring to justice those responsible for killing one of its citizens after Islamic State said it had killed a Chinese captive.
Beijing has repeatedly denounced Islamist militants and urged the world to step up coordination in combating Islamic State, though it has been reluctant to get involved on the ground in Syria and Iraq where the group largely operates.
The US Embassy tweeted that it was “aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel,” and instructed its citizens to stay indoors.
Last November, China for the first time sent a 170-member combat force to Mali to join in the UN’s international peacekeeping mission, a major shift in Beijing’s peacekeeping approach as it had prior focused on providing logistical and medical personnel over the past two decades.
Mali has been battling al-Qaeda-allied rebels for years. Late on Friday, al-Mourabitoun, a group based in northern Mali and made up mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs, posted a message on Twitter saying it was behind the attack.
Malian troops patrol outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako. Photo: AFP
Accusations that Chinese peacekeepers "failed" to rescue hostages in Friday's deadly hotel siege in Mali were nonsense as the only armed personnel were more than 1,000km away on the other side of the west African nation, military experts said.
As part of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the country, they could only act with authorisation from the UN command after the Mali government sought assistance, they said.
On Friday morning, an unknown number of suspected Islamist gunmen entered the lobby of the upscale Radisson Blu hotel, where a number of government departments and diplomats were based, and took 170 guests and staff hostage.
Nine hours into the siege, French, US and Malian troops stormed the hotel, killing three gunmen. Yesterday, the death toll stood at 21 hostages, including three Chinese executives.
Doubts over China's inaction arose after it was reported that French and United States commandos joined Malian troops in the rescue, but none from the nearly 400-member Chinese contingent did so, 170 of whom were armed.
Several hours after the gunmen stormed the hotel, where several government ministries and diplomats are based, American, French and Malian troops secured most of the hostages.
"Many people may not understand the international rules in responding to such emergencies. It's up to the Mali government to say how to tackle the situation," said Shanghai-based military expert Ni Lexiong .
"If the Mali government finds itself incapable of keeping the situation under control, it can ask the UN for help. The Chinese soldiers there belong to the UN peacekeeping troops and cannot act unless ordered to do so.
"Launching unauthorised action would be a violation of the host country's sovereignty," he added.
Yue Gang, a retired colonel and anti-terrorism expert, said the Chinese peacekeepers - all highly trained soldiers - were stationed 1,200km away in the north of the country.
He urged China to send more peacekeepers to Bamako following the latest attack.
"Participants in the raid included Malian, French, US troops and the UN stabilisation mission, whose strength was proven in this case. But the Chinese troops were 1,000km away," he wrote on his weibo account.
In late 2013, China for the first time sent the 170-member combat force to Mali to join the UN's international peacekeeping mission, in a major shift in Beijing's peacekeeping approach, which for two decades had focused on providing logistical and medical support.
Compared with its relatively large economic role throughout Africa, China's involvement in conflict crisis management remains modest. The deployment of combat troops to Mali does not constitute a significant change in its long-standing foreign policy, but such a deployment does highlight China's aim to strengthen its position within the UN and the body's peacekeeping operations, according to this year's annual Clingendael Report by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
Xi urged government agencies to increase work to protect citizens abroad and called on the international community to do more to prevent violent acts. Photo: Kyodo
President Xi Jinping yesterday "strongly condemned" the attack on a hotel in Mali which left three executives of state-owned railway company among at least 21 killed.
"China will strengthen cooperation with international society to resolutely fight violent terrorist activities that hurt innocent lives, to maintain world peace and tranquility," Xi was quoted as saying in a Foreign Ministry statement.
Gunmen burst in to the lobby of the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on Friday morning and sprayed gunfire before troops stormed the building and freed 170 hostages.
The three Chinese victims were identified as Zhou Tianxiang , general manager of the international division of China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC); Wang Xuanshang , deputy general manager of the international division; and Chang Xuehui , general manager of its West Africa division, according to a statement on the official website of CRCC.
They were in the hotel lobby waiting to meet Malian officials to discuss a potential railway project when the attack began. A translator named Wu Zhiqi was running late and was not in the lobby when the gunman began the assault. He was the only survivor of the CRCC's team of four in the hotel, said Liu Shushan, director of the CRCC culture department.
As Beijing reaches out to Africa by helping build infrastructure such as roads and hospitals, state-owned companies including CRCC have been playing a significant role. It recently announced railway and road deals in Republic of Congo, Libya and Nigeria and the executives had spent a lot of time in Africa.
China has significantly developed economic relations with Mali. The bilateral trade in 2012 reached US$622 million.
"The deceased represented some of the best of Chinese companies' international experience and achievement. It's our terrible loss," said Liu. "We will turn the grief into strength and carry on our overseas mission."
French military personnels are seen outside Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako after the early morning raid to rescue hostages. Three Chinese citizens were killed in a hostage-taking situation at the Radisson Blu hotel in the Malian capital, while four other Chinese citizens were rescued, the Chinese Embassy in Mali. Photo: Xinhua
Investigators in Mali were yesterday hunting at least three people suspected of links to the siege.
The al-Murabitoun group, an al-Qaeda affiliate led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, nicknamed the "Uncatchable" or "Mr Marlboro", claimed the attack.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was due to visit the site of the carnage overnight as Mali prepared to begin three days of national mourning tomorrow.
"Terror will not win," Keita said in a televised address. "Long live Mali."
Mali has been torn apart by unrest since the north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda in 2012. The Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched the following year but large swathes of Mali remain lawless.
Well planned Mali attack took advantage of security lapses
By BABA AHMED and ROBBIE COREY-BOULET
Nov. 21, 2015 12:45 PM EST
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita returns to his car after addressing reporters outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Malian security forces were hunting "more than three" suspects after a brazen assault on a luxury hotel in the capital that killed 20 people plus two assailants, an army commander said Saturday. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The heavily armed Islamic extremists who shot up a luxury hotel in Mali's capital, killing 19 people, timed their assault for the moment when guards would be the most lax, allowing them to easily blast their way past a five-man security team before turning their weapons on terrified guests, a security guard and witnesses said Saturday.
The timing suggested a well-planned operation that analysts say could be an attempt by al-Qaida to assert its relevance amid high-profile attacks by the rival Islamic State group.
The attack on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako began at around 7 a.m. Friday morning when two gunmen, approaching on foot, reached the entrance where five guards who had worked the night shift were waiting to be replaced by a new team, said Cheick Dabo, one of the guards.
The guards had just finished the morning prayer and had put their weapons — a shotgun and two pistols — away in their vehicle when the militants struck.
"We didn't see the jihadists until they started firing on us. We weren't concentrating and we didn't expect it," he said.
Four of the guards were shot, one fatally, while Dabo himself managed to hide under a car.
Government critics have attacked the level of security at the hotel and in the country but Interior Minister Salif Traore said Saturday that there was little to be done in the face of such determined attackers.
"They were ready to die, so the level of security is hardly important," he told reporters. "The Radisson hotel had a level of security that was considered good."
Once inside, at least one of the assailants headed for the kitchen and restaurant, sparking pandemonium, said Mohammed Coulibaly, a cook at the hotel.
"I was busy cooking when a waitress started screaming at the door, 'They are attacking us, they are attacking us!'" Coulibaly said. "I asked everyone to go into the hallway, so everyone headed in that direction. Suddenly we heard the footsteps of the jihadists behind us and there was total panic and people were running in every direction."
Coulibaly said he then hid in a bathroom with one of the guests, but one of the assailants saw him through a window and started firing, prompting him to run to the kitchen where he was nearly overwhelmed by smoke.
"I realized that if I didn't leave the kitchen the smoke would kill me. So I waited until I didn't hear any noise and I ran from the kitchen and escaped the hotel through a window," he said.
By that point, the assailants were heading upstairs where they took dozens of hostages, launching a standoff with Malian security forces that lasted more than seven hours and claimed 19 lives in addition to their own. All but one of the victims were hotel guests.
Speaking to reporters briefly after visiting the hotel on Saturday, Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said the attack underscored the global threat posed by Islamic extremists, especially coming just one week after teams of attackers from the Islamic State group in Paris killed 130 people while targeting a stadium, a concert hall and cafes and restaurants.
"These people have attacked Paris and other places. Nowhere is excluded," Keita said.
Army Maj. Modibo Nama Traore said earlier Saturday that security forces were hunting "more than three" suspects who may have been involved in the assault. The government on Friday declared a 10-day nationwide state of emergency and three days of national mourning beginning Monday.
The Radisson attack was claimed by Al-Mourabitoun (The Sentinels), an extremist group formed by notorious Algerian militant Moktar Belmoktar, in a statement Friday that said it was carried out in cooperation with al-Qaida's "Sahara Emirate."
Belmoktar, an Algerian militant and former al-Qaida commander who has long been based in the Sahara, shot to prominence after his group carried out a January 2013 attack on an Algerian gas plant that resulted in the death of 39 foreign workers.
Jean-Herve Jezequel, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, said Al-Mourabitoun may be allying with al-Qaida in the face of the losses the extremists have suffered at the hands of French forces that intervened in Mali in 2013 after much of the north fell to radical Islamists.
"Belmoktar may want to revive the alliance with al-Qaida maybe to reassert their position because they have lost a lot," he said. "They have lost a lot of leaders in the last three years because of the French military intervention."
The attack may also be a way for al-Qaida and its allies to assert itself in the face of the highly publicized string of attacks carried out by its chief rival in jihad, the Islamic State group.
While IS does not have a major presence in this region, its successes elsewhere in the world have resulted in local radical groups pledging allegiance to it.
"Al-Qaida and its international affiliates have been surpassed by IS and needed to show that they are still there," said Djallil Lounnes, an expert on radical groups in the Sahara based in Morocco. "The attack on the hotel was perfect — only foreign delegations in a highly secure area — so the message would be that we, al-Qaida, can strike high-quality targets, not just random civilians."
Among the dead in the Radisson attack were a 41-year-old American development worker, six Russian plane crew from a cargo company, and three senior executives from the powerful state-owned China Railway Construction Corp., officials said.
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The story has been corrected to show that the official toll from the attack is 19 victims dead, rather than 20.
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Corey-Boulet reported from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Associated Press writer Paul Schemm in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia contributed to this report.
Guests and staff leave the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako after coming to retrieve their belongings following the attack. Photo: EPA
On most weekends, every table at the Canoe Club, a stylish riverside bistro and bar, is reserved long in advance. Western diplomats and United Nations staffers rub elbows with Malian officials and business travellers late into the evening, noshing on paella or pizza and enjoying French wine and champagne.
On Saturday, a day after terrorists invaded the luxury Radisson Blu hotel in this poor West African capital, taking 130 people hostage and leaving 21 dead, the Canoe Club was deserted. Idle waiters repolished glasses or refolded linen napkins. Patrick Aleine, the chef and co-owner, sat at the empty bar in a despondent funk.
“This is a disaster,” he said, speaking in French. “We have always tried to make foreigners feel at ease and secure here, and we are always full. Today, there is not a single customer. Tomorrow, there is not a single table reserved. I am staying open for now, but if the foreigners don’t start coming back, the Malians won’t come either. Then we will be finished.”
On the surface, the crowded, hardscrabble city of nearly 2 million people appeared to return to normal with astonishing speed so soon after a horrific terrorist attack.
A Malian police officer stand guard outside the Radisson Blu hotel after the deadly attack. Photo: AFP
In the morning, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced a 10-day state of emergency, giving security officials extra powers to enter homes without a warrant and to ban public rallies or marches. He also declared three days of national mourning, acting to tamp down public reaction to the violence. Police and army troops were stationed on many corners, and armoured pickup trucks full of combat troops circled the Radisson Blu and other sensitive areas .
Later, the president visited some victims of the hotel attack in a local hospital and toured the hotel, accompanied by Prime Minister Modibo Keita and surrounded by bodyguards.
Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita speaks to journalists at the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali. Photo: Reuters
From behind a police barricade, a crowd of young men watched the scene. Most said they were Muslim, as are 95 per cent of Malians. They expressed anger and consternation at the attack, saying it was the act of terrorists who did not represent their religion. One violent regional jihadist group, the Mourabitounes, has claimed responsibility, and witnesses said that the attackers freed hostages who could recite the Koran.
Nafila Dao, 23, who sells cellphones, said the threat of Islamist extremism is “everywhere now, and we cannot stop it. We were taught that Islam is tolerant of all religions and people. These people are just murderers.”
The leader of the Mourabitounes has said that the group seeks to “rout” French interests from the region. In March, gunmen from the group attacked a French restaurant here, killing five people, including French and Belgian citizens.
Mali troopers protect a hostage who fled the Radisson Blu hotel after gunmen attacked. Photo: AP
On Saturday, the minister of internal security and police told journalists that 21 people had died, including three Chinese nationals: executives of China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC). According to numerous accounts, guests and visitors at the hotel Friday included Turkish, Indian, Belgian, American, French and Chinese citizens.
Among other events taking place at the Radisson that day was a conference of a French-speaking association. Colonel Salif Traore, the interior minister, described the atmosphere in Bamako on Saturday as “relatively calm, although you can never say the risk is zero. We have a permanent menace from terror groups, and this is a world menace. If they can hit France and the US, even hit Paris, it is impossible to totally protect Bamako.”
Inside an office of the Radisson-Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali after the attack. Photo: Xinhua
Mali attack probe deepens as siege hotel yields clues
AFP
November 23, 2015, 5:07 am
Bamako (AFP) - Malian investigators Sunday stepped up the hunt for suspects wanted over the jihadist siege at a luxury hotel that left 19 people dead in the capital Bamako, where residents were seeking to return to normal life.
Two days after the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel, claimed by the Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate led by notorious one-eyed Algerian militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the authorities were tight-lipped about the direction of the enquiry.
"We are following several lines, but we won't be making a statement," a police source told AFP.
Another informed source spoke of "three or four accomplices" believed to have aided the "foreign" gunmen who attacked the hotel frequented by businessmen, diplomats and other expatriates.
"Everything points to two foreigners," the source said.
Pope Francis on Sunday offered his condolences to the Malian people, in the form of a telegramme from the Vatican's Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the Archbishop of Bamako Jean Zerbo.
The pope, who travels to Africa this week, said he was "appalled by this senseless violence" and hoped for "the conversion of hearts and the gift of peace," in the troubled country.
Bamako's streets resounded once again with the normal concert of car horns and noisy wedding processions, despite the state of emergency in force which was imposed late Friday, which bans all rallies and street protests likely to disturb public order.
Security remained high at the major hotels. It was more discreet, though tighter than usual, at public buildings and banks.
Investigators were combing through the Radisson Blu hotel and have recovered several items inside which could help the enquiry, the police source said.
On Saturday a security source told AFP that the authorities were "actively pursuing" at least three people over the attack in the former French colony.
- Three days of mourning -
Gunmen went on the rampage in the hotel from the early morning on Friday, shooting in the corridors and taking 170 guests and staff hostage.
The assault, which ended when Malian and international troops stormed the building, left 19 people dead as well as two attackers, Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has said.
The victims included six Russians, three Chinese, two Belgians, an American, an Israeli, a Senegalese and a member of the Malian special forces.
Senegal's President Macky Sall was expected in Bamako later Sunday "to show the sympathy of the Senegal people" towards their west African neighbours, the Mali president's office said.
Mali will begin three days of mourning from Monday.
The attack appears to have had an immediate effect on the country's tourism industry with one major hotel saying that it had received numerous cancellations, and that restaurant and business centre reservations were down.
Many Malians were on Sunday determined to resume their normal lives, but some cautioned against too quick a return to routine.
"People are not being vigilant. We forget. I don't know whether it's because of the problems of daily life, but people just aren't being careful here," said hotel worker Daouda Sissoko.
Others are concerned that Friday's attack will have more economic repercussions for a country still recovering from a 2012-13 civil war.
Mali has been torn apart by unrest since the north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.
The Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation launched the following year, but large swathes of Mali remain lawless.
France has more than 1,000 troops in its former colony, a key battleground of the Barkhane counter-terror mission spanning five countries in Africa's restive Sahel region.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday his country's efforts in Mali have not been in vain.
"Democracy has returned, terrorism has been virtually eradicated, or at least pushed back to northern Mali and the Barkhane force is doing exceptional work," he told Europe 1 radio.
Mali hotel attack: Police seek info on hotel attack gunmen
2 hours ago
Africa
Malian police have appealed for help to identify the two gunmen who carried out Friday's attack on a hotel in the capital, Bamako, in which 22 people were killed.
Pictures of their bodies have been shown on state TV and police have asked for the public's help to identify them.
Malian and international troops stormed the Radisson Blu hotel to free guests and staff being held hostage.
Three different Islamist groups have said they carried out the attack.
Investigators have yet to determine the number and nationality of the gunmen.
However, Islamist group al-Murabitoun, which first claimed responsibility for the attack, has issued a new audio recording identifying the two gunmen, reports say.
They were named as Abdel Hakim al-Ansari and Moadh al-Ansari.
One security source in Mali earlier told the BBC that officials believed that the two dead gunmen had been speaking English during the attack.
The police found a suitcase with grenades in the hotel lobby and were following up "several leads" linked to "objects" left by the gunmen, a Malian police source has told the AFP news agency.
Ahead of the three days of national mourning declared by Mali, the chairman of the West African regional bloc Ecowas, Senegal's President Macky Sall, visited Bamako to show support.
He said on Sunday: "Mali will never be alone in this fight, we are all committed because we are all involved."
Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea are also observing the mourning, which started on Monday.
Pictures of the corpses of the two gunmen have been shown on state television to help identify them. ORTM Television
The victims
Six Malians, including one gendarme, three hotel workers and two others.
Six Russians were killed, all employees of the Volga-Dnepr airline, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. Volga-Dnepr reported that the six were Stanislav Dumansky and Pavel Kudryavtsev, mechanics; Vladimir Kudryashov, a flight radio operator; Konstantin Preobrazhensky, a flight engineer; Sergey Yurasov, a load manager, and Aleksandr Kononenko, a navigator.
Three Chinese, Zhou Tianxiang and Wang Xuanshang and Chang Xuehui were executives from the state-owned China Railway Construction Corp, the company said in a statement on its website.
Two Belgians, including Geoffrey Dieudonne, an official at the parliament in Belgium's Wallonia region.
US national Anita Ashok Datar, 41, was in Mali working on projects involving family planning and HIV. Ms Datar, the mother of a seven-year-old boy, was a senior manager at Palladium Group, an international development organisation.
Israeli education consultant and executive Shmuel Benalal, who is reported to have been in Mali to work with the government.
One Senegalese.
One Lebanese, who worked at the hotel.
One Burkina Faso national who worked at the hotel
This list has been provided to the BBC by a security source in Mali
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its affiliate, al-Murabitoun, have both said they were responsible for the attack.
The Macina Liberation Front (MLF) which has been blamed for attacks in southern Mali, has also said its fighters carried it out.
Security remains tight around major hotels in Bamako.
Gunmen entered the hotel on Friday morning, shooting and driving their vehicle through a security barrier, one eyewitness said.
Most of the hotel guests and staff were freed hours later when Malian special forces, French special forces and off-duty US servicemen stormed the hotel to end the siege.
Analysis - Tomi Oladipo, BBC Africa security correspondent
The MLF is a new jihadist group operating in central and southern Mali.
It is led by the radical Muslim cleric Amadou Kouffa, a strong proponent of strict Islamic law in Mali.
His group draws most of its support from the Fulani ethnic group, who are found across the Sahel.
Mr Kouffa is a close ally of Tuareg jihadist Iyad ag Ghali, who leads the powerful jihadist group Ansar Dine.
A Human Rights Watch report said the MLF militants had carried out serious abuses in parts of central Mali since January and killed at least five people they accused of being aligned to the government.
The group has attacked police and military particularly in the Mopti region, most recently killing three soldiers in Tenenkou in August.
The Malian military recently arrested Alaye Bocari, a man they say was a key MLF financier and Mr Kouffa's right-hand man.
