Mali kidnap: Swiss woman freed in Timbuktu

A Swiss woman abducted in the rebel-held north Malian town of Timbuktu more than a week ago is free, officials say.

The woman, a Christian missionary in her 40s, was handed over to a Swiss official by the group holding her, the Swiss foreign ministry said.

She was taken from her house by armed men soon after Timbuktu fell to separatist and Islamist rebels.

On Sunday, the Islamist group Ansar Dine said she was in its custody and that it wanted to free her.

In a statement, the Swiss foreign ministry said the woman had been taken to safety, and that she was in good health, "considering the circumstances".

It also thanked the authorities in Mali and Burkina Faso for their help in securing the woman's release.

The ministry declined to give her personal details, citing data protection laws, but news agency reports have named her as Beatrice Stockly.

Eyewitnesses said that after the handover she boarded a helicopter that flew her to Burkina Faso.

Secular Tuareg rebels, along with Ansar Dine, completed a takeover of Timbuktu and the rest of northern Mali earlier this month after mutinous troops had overthrown President Amadou Toumani Toure in a coup, throwing the country into chaos.

Most foreigners fled Timbuktu at the time.

Facing sanctions from regional body Ecowas and unable to contain the rebellion in the north, the coup leaders later agreed to hand over power to civilian rule.

Since 2009, Switzerland has advised against travel to Mali, citing the risk of kidnap. After last month's coup, it advised all Swiss nationals in Mali to leave the country temporarily.

Swiss woman abducted by gunmen in northern Mali

A Swiss woman has been abducted in the rebel-held northern Malian city of Timbuktu, officials and residents said.

The woman, a Christian in her 40s called Beatrice, was kidnapped from her house by armed men, residents said.

Most foreigners fled Timbuktu after Tuareg and Islamist rebels seized the town early this month in the aftermath of a military coup.

The kidnap comes amid concern the area could offer a safe haven to an al-Qaeda branch which operates in the country.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the network's North African wing, has links to the Islamist rebels. The group is already holding 13 Westerners.

"Beatrice, a Swiss national, was abducted this Sunday at Timbuktu by armed men," local official Mohamed Ould Hassen told AFP.

One resident of the town told the news agency that they saw six armed men take the woman.

"They shouted 'Allah Akbar' [God is great]," the resident added.

Sources cited by Reuters said the woman, who stayed in the Abaradjou neighbourhood, had lived in Timbuktu for some years and knew several local languages.

Islamist group Ansar Dine and secular Tuareg rebels seized territory in the north of the country after Mali was plunged into political crisis when the president was overthrown in a coup.

After facing sanctions from regional body Ecowas and being unable to control the rebellion in the north, coup leaders in Banako later agreed to hand over power to civilian rule.