Sekouba Bambino Diabate

Mali today started three days of national mourning for the victims of the jihadist siege at a luxury hotel that left 19 people dead in the capital Bamako, with neighbouring Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea joining in a show of solidarity.

A famous Guinean singer who was among 170 people taken hostage on Friday by Islamist gunmen in the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, said he heard attackers in the next room speaking English.

Mali today started three days of national mourning for the victims of the jihadist siege at a luxury hotel that left 19 people dead in the capital Bamako, with neighbouring Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea joining in a show of solidarity.

A famous Guinean singer who was among 170 people taken hostage on Friday by Islamist gunmen in the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital, Bamako, said he heard attackers in the next room speaking English.