A Belgian regional assembly official was among those killed when Islamist gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel in Mali's capital Bamako today, his employer said.
Geoffrey Dieudonne, an official with the parliament of Belgium's French-speaking community, had been in Mali for a convention, the parliament said in a statement.
"Mr Dieudonne, with other foreign colleagues, was in Mali to give a seminar for Malian parliamentarians," the Brussels-based parliament said.
"At this stage the exact circumstances of his tragic death are not yet known."
18 bodies have been recovered so far from the siege, a foreign security source told AFP. The gunmen are holding no more hostages, Mali's security minister said.
