Malian authorities on Thursday confirmed the abduction of a French citizen in western Mali and said security forces had launched a search operation, dpa reported. Mali's Defence Ministry could not confirm media reports that the Islamist group Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA) was responsible for the kidnapping. "Through the media, we hear that the MUJWA claimed the kidnapping of the French national. It is a way for them to put pressure on France ... We do not have the means to locate the hostage," Nouhoum Togo, a spokesman of the Malian Defence Ministry told dpa. France has been actively pushing for an international intervention in Mali, the north of which has been under the control of Islamist insurgents since early 2012. There are now seven French citizens being held captive in the country. According to a statement issued Thursday by the ministry, George Leoville Rodriguez was abducted late Tuesday from Diema, about 350 kilometres north-west of Bamako. Portuguese-born Rodriguez was reportedly driving alone and was making a stop at a roadside cafe when he was kidnapped. -- SPA
