Tuareg-led rebels in northern Mali have released the last 22 soldiers held hostages from a group of 36 captured last year, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday.

The soldiers, who were seized to the northeast of the town of Kidal more than 1,200 km from the capital Bamako, were released late on Friday, the communique said. It said Libya?s leader Muammar Gaddafi had helped in the release, and it also thanked the Algerian government for its mediation.

In December, the rebel band led by Ibrahima Bahanga released 14 hostages.

Bahanga?s group launched its uprising in August to demand greater autonomy for northern Mali. The revolt added to insecurity in the Sahara after Tuareg-led rebels in neighbouring Niger launched a bloody campaign against their own country?s government in February 2007.

The violence echoed fierce 1990s rebellions by Tuaregs and other nomadic tribes which roam the northern reaches of Mali and Niger, some of whom resent the authority of the southern, Black African-led governments.

Daniel FLYNN