Mastermind of Algeria siege killed in Mali

Armed forces in Chad claim to have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the commander of an al-Qaeda-linked brigade which carried out a bloody assault to take western hostages at a gas plant in Algeria in January.
Belmokhtar died in a raid on an Islamist rebel base on Saturday, according to a military spokesman.
One of the world's most wanted terrorists, he had claimed responsibility for the strike on the In Amenas gas plant in which more than 60 people were killed after troops stormed the complex on 19 January.
In a statement read out on Chadian television, armed forces spokesman General Zacharia Gobongue said: "Chadian armed forces operating in northern Mali completely destroyed a terrorist base … The toll included several dead terrorists, including their leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar."
Belmokhtar's death, if confirmed, would be a major blow to Islamist rebels in northern Mali who have been pushed into their mountain strongholds by French and African forces.
The report of his death comes days after Chad's president, Idriss Deby, said soldiers in Mali had killed another leading al-Qaeda commander in the Sahara, Adelhamid Abou Zeid. French officials said they could not confirm the killing of either Abou Zeid or Belmokhtar.
Chad is among several African nations that have contributed forces to a French-led military intervention in Mali aimed at ridding its vast northern desert of Islamist rebels who seized it nearly a year ago, following a coup in the capital.