Berber singer released

TUNIS - Matoub Lounes, the leading Berber singer kidnapped two weeks ago by suspected Muslim guerrillas, was released last night in Benni Yenni, 110km (73 miles) east of Algiers.

Last month, Algerian security services said they had identified two of the kidnappers and described them as 'terrorists who are suspected of multiple assassinations and acts of sabotage'.

A Berber activist group, the Berber Cultural Movement, had threatened to wage war against Islamic militants unless Lounes was released within 48 hours, but later suspended the threat to give authorities more time to find him. Reuter