Bodyguard of ex-senior al-Qaida member arrested in Mali

French and Malian joint forces have arrested a bodyguard of a ex-senior member of al-Qaida in the Sahel region, an Algerian security source told Xinhua Saturday.

Halil Abdelmadjid, bodyguard of Mokhtar Belmokhtar, was arrested Wednesday in the city of Gao in northern Mali near the Algerian border, when he was about to purchase a 4x4 vehicle from a broker who deals with the Malian army forces, the source said.

The French-Malian joint forces planned an ambush targeting Belmokhtar, but finally could only arrest Abdelmadjid, who is the brother in law of Belmokhtar and has served as his driver and bodyguard for nine years, said the source.

Belmokhtar is a former senior member in al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). By now, security reports suggest that he leads an armed group known as the Masked Men Brigade.

Belmokhtar claimed responsibility for the deadly hostage-taking crisis that targeted a gas plant in In Amenas locality in southern Algeria in January.