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Added on the 07/04/2015 11:49:35 - Copyright : Reuters - Next Media
French commandos freed a Dutch hostage during a raid on an al Qaeda-linked group in Mali on Monday, French and Dutch officials said.
"I am begging the world to bring my baby back home", urges the mother of a young French-Israeli hostage girl, Mia Shem, abducted on October 7 in Israel by Hamas. On Monday, the Islamist movement posted on its official Telegram account the video of "one of the prisoners in Gaza" in which a young woman speaking Hebrew appears. The caption states that she was abducted "on the first day" of the Hamas attack on Israeli soil. SOUNDBITE
French citizen Louis Arnaud is welcomed off the plane by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne at Le Bourget airport near Paris, before embracing his father and then his mother, after being held in Iran since September 2022 and sentenced last year to five years in prison on national security charges. IMAGES
Families, friends of hostages march in Tel Aviv calling for release of loved ones ahead of Passover. IMAGES
A framework for the release of hostages held in Gaza is to be relayed to Hamas, Qatar's prime minister says following meetings with US, Israeli and Egyptian officials. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says "good progress" had been made during talks between the parties who were "hoping to relay this proposal to Hamas and to get them to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process". SOUNDBITE
Supporters of Zambian President Lungu hold a rally in Lusaka during a tense presidential race, which has been marked by clashes between rival supporters. The presidential election will take place on Thursday. IMAGES.