Algeria's consul in Gao, Sais Boualem (C), delivers aid to residents of the city in northeastern Mali September 16, 2011. Algeria said on April 9, 2012 it could not confirm a report that seven of its diplomats abducted in rebel-held northern Mali had been freed, and threatened to shut its border crossings to stop the chaos there spilling over. The diplomats, including Boualem, were abducted last week from the town of Gao, part of a swathe of territory in northern Mali now under the control of Tuareg-led separatists. REUTERS/Adama Diarra (MALI - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) PROFILE