BAMAKO - Malian government said Friday that, contrary to the assertions of the Embassy of France in Bamako, there is no "tangible" evidence on risk of kidnapping of French people on its territory.
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* "No tangible evidence does support the alleged insecurity could hinder the free movement of persons and their property including in the region of Mopti (600 km north of Bamako), tourism region par excellence," said the Malian ministry of Security in a statement.
"The government of Mali, urges Friends of Mali in the world and all who wish to visit" this country "not to change their program," he added.
There is a "very high" danger of hostage-taking of French nationals in Mali and Niger, had for his part said Tuesday the Embassy of France in Bamako in an alert posted on its website.
The embassy clarified that the information it received concerning Mali, was as high threat of kidnapping of the French nationals between Mopti region and the border with Burkina Faso.
Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has bases in Mali where it operates in several countries in the region of Sahel-Saharan desert.
AQIM holds hostage four French nationals who were among a group of seven people kidnapped Sept. 16, 2010 at Arlit, a uranium mining site in northern Niger's French nuclear group Areva.
On 24 February, three hostages including a French woman, a Togolese and a Malagasy, were released near the junction of the borders of Algeria, Mali and Niger.