A Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali has released a Spanish man kidnapped in North Africa on Jan. 17, two of the group's spokesmen said late on Monday. Spain's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a Spanish man had been kidnapped in North Africa.

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A rebel alliance in Mali said Tuesday it has freed a Spanish man who was kidnapped in southern Algeria last week. The Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a coalition of separatist armed groups in Mali’s predominately Tuareg north, said on X that it freed Spanish citizen Gilbert Navarro.

The foreign ministry in Madrid confirmed on Wednesday that the man had been freed with the participation of Spanish diplomatic and intelligence services.

A Spanish man kidnapped by an armed group in the turbulent Algeria-Mali border area thanked the Algerian authorities on Wednesday after his rescue.Identified as Joaquin Navarro, the Spaniard had been on a trip last week when he was kidnapped "by an armed group made up of five people",