| [Maghrebia] Malian authorities reportedly remain optimistic about the fate of French hostage Pierre Camatte, even though the deadline set for his execution by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb expires on Saturday (February 20th). "We have not lost hope at all," AFP quoted a Malian official as saying on Thursday. Mali has refused to release four jailed AQIM terrorists in exchange for the life of the hostage. Al-Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for kidnapping Camatte in Mali and abducting three Spanish aid workers and an Italian couple in Mauritania, is holding the hostages in the northern Mali desert. |