Mali's Defense Minister Yamoussa Camara said on Monday that the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a separatist Touareg rebel movement, is not yet ready to set free the French hostages.

The minister who was addressing the press in Bamako, recalled that for the last two years, seven French hostages have been under detention in the Sahel, within the massive Ifoghas region, in Mali's extreme North-East region of Kidal.

"The MNLA is an organization which is in tatters and it's leaders maybe only want to benefit by associating with certain partners," Camara said.

Some officials of the movement have said that if their grievances can be listened to, then they will facilitate the release of the hostages, the minister said.

However, the minister added, "I do not think that in the current state, MNLA will be able to secure the support of any partner. The movement is just engaged in propaganda."

Recently, MNLA declared that it did not want the presence of Malian soldiers in Kidal.

"When we shall have sufficiently mobilized our forces to the expected level, we shall go to Kidal and we shall not tolerate any armed group on any part of the national territory," the minister reiterated. Endi

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