Gunmen have freed four election workers and a deputy mayor a day after they were kidnapped in Mali's remote northern town of Tessalit, a local official said on Sunday. The kidnapping, a week before election day, highlighted insecurity hanging over the vote that is intended to draw a line under a coup and Islamist uprising, although some fear it could lead to further instability due to poor preparations.
"The five hostages were picked up this morning by French soldiers outside the town. We do not know what led to them being freed," Cheick Fanta Mady Bouare, the prefect of Tessalit, told Reuters.
France sent troops to Mali early this year in an offensive against al Qaeda-linked fighters that had last year seized the desert north alongside separatist Tuareg rebels.
The Islamists have been largely scattered and the Tuaregs have signed a deal to allow the vote to take place and then negotiate with an elected government.
The kidnapping follows accusations from Mali's government that the MNLA rebels had violated the cease-fire deal this week after four people died in clashes between pro-separatist Tuareg youths and black Africans in Kidal, another northern town.
Despite pockets of violence and fears hundreds of thousands of voters will not get the cards they need to vote on time, Mali is under intense foreign pressure to hold the vote on July 28.
Dramane Dembele, candidate for ADEMA, one of Mali's most-established parties, is expected to visit Kidal on Sunday.
On Saturday, Soumaila Cisse, another frontrunner in the race, said the kidnappings were regrettable but incidents like these would not undermine the credibility of the vote.
"Events in remote parts of the country should not disturb normal progress," he told Reuters. "People are trying to prevent the elections from taking place but we should resist this provocation."