The terrorists behind Friday's assault on a hotel in Mali were actively hunting for an Air France crew who were staying there, security guards who witnessed the attack have claimed.
Members of special forces are seen inside the Radisson Blu hotel Photo: AFP/Getty
Kasim Haidara, who was on duty when the gunmen stormed the Radisson
hotel in Bamako, told The Telegraph that they confronted a colleague and
demanded to know which floor the Air France crew were staying on.
The fellow guard deliberately directed them to the wrong floor, Mr
Haidara said, for which he was later shot dead by the terrorists.
An injured rescued hostage is carried from the Radisson Hotel by security forces in Bamako, Mali Photo: EPA
Mr Haidara's account would suggest that the group, who killed 19 people,
was prioritising French citizens because of the country's two-year long
military campaign against Islamists in northern Mali. It might also
explain the Air France's decision to suspend its twice daily flights
from Paris to Bamako shortly afterwards.
Speaking of the "shocking, frightening" attack, Mr Haidara, 28, said that his colleague, Moussa Tiema-Konate, had been on the fifth floor of the hotel at the time.
UN officials exit the Radisson hotel in Bamako after the hostage situation was concluded Photo: Joe Penney/Reuters
"When they got up there, the terrorists asked him: 'where are the staff of Air France?' He told them that they were on the seventh floor instead, and when they realised later that he had given them wrong information, they came back down and killed him."
• Footage from inside Mali hotel shows scenes of disarray
Bullet holes are seen at a staircase of the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali, after the attack Photo: Joe Penney/Reuters
Air France has not commented on whether its staff were deliberately targeted or not, although did not confirm that 12 crew - including two pilots - were safely evacuated.
Mr Haidara's claims emerged as a chef who worked in the hotel's kitchens said that one of the terrorists had calmly cooked himself a meal during the siege, which lasted nine hours.
Ali Yazbeck, 30, who suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, told the New York Times that the gunman came into the kitchen, grilled some meat taken from a fridge, and then ate it before resuming combat.
Ali Yazbeck in a local clinic in Bamako Photo: Jerome Delay/AP
• Why the Radisson Hotel in Mali was a prime target
Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Algerian militant behind the 2013 Amenas gas refinery attack in Algeria that killed 40 hostages, including six Britons.
Reports that the Mali attackers spoke in English with a Nigerian accent have raised speculation that the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram could also have been involved. However, security officials say they would have expected the group to have made a claim of responsibility by now.
Malian security forces say they are still hunting for "more than three" people who may have been involved in the attack, in which two of the gunmen were killed.
On Sunday, a leader of one of Mali’s secular northern separatist movement described the hotel attack as an attempt to derail long-running peace talks with the government.
Tight security surrounds Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as he visits the Radisson Blu hotel after the attack Photo: Jerome Delay/AP
The Radisson had been set to host a meeting on implementing the latest accords, said Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati, of the Coordination of Azawad Movements, an ethnic Arab and Tuareg coalition. It was an alliance of convenience between Tuareg and Arab groups and al-Qaeda that sparked the French military campaign in 2013.
"The jihadis are in different groups but their goal is the same, and that's to hinder implementation of the peace accord," Mr Sidati said. His comments have been welcomed by western diplomats, who hope the one silver lining of the hotel attack may be to encourage more moderate rebel groups to commit more firmly to peace.
The carnage at the Radisson was also condemned yesterday by Pope Francis, who begins a tour of Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week aimed at promoting Muslim-Christian relations.
Due to recent fighting in the Central African Republic, the Pontiff's top bodyguard is doing a last-minute security visit there in advance.
Speaking of the "shocking, frightening" attack, Mr Haidara, 28, said that his colleague, Moussa Tiema-Konate, had been on the fifth floor of the hotel at the time.
UN officials exit the Radisson hotel in Bamako after the hostage situation was concluded Photo: Joe Penney/Reuters"When they got up there, the terrorists asked him: 'where are the staff of Air France?' He told them that they were on the seventh floor instead, and when they realised later that he had given them wrong information, they came back down and killed him."
• Footage from inside Mali hotel shows scenes of disarray
Bullet holes are seen at a staircase of the Radisson hotel in Bamako, Mali, after the attack Photo: Joe Penney/ReutersAir France has not commented on whether its staff were deliberately targeted or not, although did not confirm that 12 crew - including two pilots - were safely evacuated.
Mr Haidara's claims emerged as a chef who worked in the hotel's kitchens said that one of the terrorists had calmly cooked himself a meal during the siege, which lasted nine hours.
Ali Yazbeck, 30, who suffered a gunshot wound to the neck, told the New York Times that the gunman came into the kitchen, grilled some meat taken from a fridge, and then ate it before resuming combat.
Ali Yazbeck in a local clinic in Bamako Photo: Jerome Delay/AP• Why the Radisson Hotel in Mali was a prime target
Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Al-Murabitoun group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate led by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Algerian militant behind the 2013 Amenas gas refinery attack in Algeria that killed 40 hostages, including six Britons.
Reports that the Mali attackers spoke in English with a Nigerian accent have raised speculation that the Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram could also have been involved. However, security officials say they would have expected the group to have made a claim of responsibility by now.
Malian security forces say they are still hunting for "more than three" people who may have been involved in the attack, in which two of the gunmen were killed.
On Sunday, a leader of one of Mali’s secular northern separatist movement described the hotel attack as an attempt to derail long-running peace talks with the government.
Tight security surrounds Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as he visits the Radisson Blu hotel after the attack Photo: Jerome Delay/APThe Radisson had been set to host a meeting on implementing the latest accords, said Sidi Brahim Ould Sidati, of the Coordination of Azawad Movements, an ethnic Arab and Tuareg coalition. It was an alliance of convenience between Tuareg and Arab groups and al-Qaeda that sparked the French military campaign in 2013.
"The jihadis are in different groups but their goal is the same, and that's to hinder implementation of the peace accord," Mr Sidati said. His comments have been welcomed by western diplomats, who hope the one silver lining of the hotel attack may be to encourage more moderate rebel groups to commit more firmly to peace.
The carnage at the Radisson was also condemned yesterday by Pope Francis, who begins a tour of Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week aimed at promoting Muslim-Christian relations.
Due to recent fighting in the Central African Republic, the Pontiff's top bodyguard is doing a last-minute security visit there in advance.
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