Former French hostage returns to Mali without visa

By BABA AHMED
Associated Press

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Malian authorities say they are actively searching for a French woman who spent four years as an al-Qaida hostage and who now has returned to the West African country despite being denied a visa. The 76-year-old Sophie Petronin spent years working in Mali before her 2016 abduction and apparently crossed a land border back into the country in March about five months after she was freed. French and Malian authorities have both expressed dismay about her decision to return. They fear for her safety in a country where foreigners remain at risk of being abducted. Petronin said after he release she had converted to Islam while in captivity and called her detention “a spiritual retreat.”