Mali opposition leader Cissé dies after contracting COVID-19

BAMAKO, MALI — Soumaila Cissé, Mali’s main opposition leader who was held hostage for six months earlier this year by jihadis and was considered a leading contender in the 2022 presidential election, has died in Paris. He was 71.

Cissé died after contracting COVID-19, his eldest son Bocar told The Associated Press.

“The doctors did everything to keep him alive, but that’s the way ofGod’s will,” he said.

The death throws Malian politics intonewuncertainty. Cissé was the runner-up in the past three presidential elections and many thought he had the best chances of finally winning in 2022.

He was taken hostage by al-Qaida-affiliated jihadis in March while campaigning for legislative elections in his hometown of Niafunke in northernMali. Amid public pressure, theMalian government obtained his liberation in October, along with that of French and Italian hostages, in exchange for the release of around 200 jihadis fromMalian prisons.

It wasn’t known whether a ransom had been paid, though extremist groups have long funded their operations with such payments fromEuropeangovernments.

In an interviewafter being released fromcaptivity, Cissé told France’sTV5Mondethat his captors moved the hostages by motorcycle, boat and even camel. He said he was held in more than 20 different locations. While he said he wasn’t abused physically or verbally, he described extremely difficult conditions in the desert, and said he lacked the medication he needed.