At least the BBC carried this story
Malian fugitive 'Cheibani' recaptured by French
troops
A Malian man who
escaped from prison in Niger where he was serving a sentence for killing four
Saudi tourists, and allegedly assassinated a US diplomat has been recaptured,
officials say.
French soldiers
arrested Alhassane Ould Mohamed, also known as "Cheibani", in
northern Mali on Tuesday.
He was among 22
prisoners who escaped from jail in June during an attack by suspected Islamist
militants.
Following the mass breakout,
the US unsealed an indictment for his arrest.
It said he was wanted
for the murder of US diplomat William Bultemeier who was shot in Niger's
capital, Niamey, as he left a restaurant with colleagues in December 2000.
A reward of $20,000
(£12,235) was also announced in September for information leading to his
capture.
French troops ousted
Islamist militants from northern Mali earlier this year
He was serving a
20-year sentence in Niger for the murder of four Saudi citizens who were
travelling with a Saudi prince on a hunting trip in 2009.
Mali's chief
prosecutor Daniel Tessougue said that Cheibani, sometimes also called Cheibane
Ould Hama, was arrested with three other people, the Associated Press news
agency reports.
According to the
Reuters news agency, Niger's Justice Minister Marou Mohamed said Cheibani was
captured in a hideout between the towns of Gao and Kidal following a tip-off
from Niger security officials.
French forces, along
with troops from West Africa, helped oust al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
militants and their allies from northern Mali earlier this year.
They had occupied the
vast desert area in the wake of the chaos that followed a coup in March 2012.
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