Three hostages kidnapped more than five months ago in Niger near a uranium mine exploited by the French nuclear energy firm Areva have been released, the French government said Friday.
Media reports said the trio includes the ill French wife of a still missing Areva employee. The other two released hostages were said to come from Togo and Madagascar, dpa reported.
A total of seven people - five of them French nationals - had been abducted on September 16 near the city of Arlit in northern Niger.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the North African affiliate of the terrorist network, claimed responsibility for the hostage taking. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden later said it was in reaction to a burqa ban in France.
Broadcaster Al Arabiya had reported on October 11 that the kidnappers had made demands that would be difficult to meet, including a reversal of the French burqa ban and the release of suspected terrorists imprisoned in France and Mauritania.
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