Four years ago, Mali opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé was posing with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the Democratic Party convention, part of an African delegation representing the continent’s most prominent democracy advocates. Now the 70-year-old former finance minister, IBM executive and International Monetary Fund board member is being held hostage by a jihadist group on the edge of the Sahara. One of Mali’s most prominent public figures and a three-time presidential candidate, Mr. Cissé was snatched...

Source: Wall Street Journal May 30, 2020 13:18 UTC