Mali hunts suspects after deadly hotel siege

BAMAKO: Mali was hunting Saturday for suspects over the 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 through the hotel 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 and a Senegalese.

A Malian military source had said earlier there were at least 27 dead, while at least "three terrorists had been killed or blown themselves up".

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 an overnight televised address that "terror will not win", visited the site of the carnage Saturday.

"Nowhere in the world is one safe from these barbarians from another time," he said, adding that the attackers had "decided to break with humanity".

Mali will begin three days of national mourning Monday.

Security remained tight around the Radisson and other hotels in Bamako and was also boosted at public buildings and banks.

The attack came as fears mount over threats a week after 130 people died in the Paris attacks claimed by IS 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 all 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 militant groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.

The militants 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 in the country.