Separatist rebels in northern Mali have said that a Spanish national kidnapped days earlier between Algeria and Mali has been freed thanks to their "intervention" and is in good health under their "protection".

A Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali has released a Spanish man kidnapped in North Africa on Jan. 17, two of the group's spokesmen said late on Monday.

A rebel alliance in Mali said Tuesday it has freed a Spanish man who was kidnapped in southern Algeria last week. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), a coalition of separatist armed groups in Mali’s predominately Tuareg north,