so what has happened in paris last week, must have egged -- encouraged this group to launch the scene it did today. to prove their supremacy over the other. >> thank you very much indeed for your analysis of the situation. and still to come on the program, argentina prepares to vote in its first-ever presidential runoff. new zealand will vote for what could become their new flag. ♪

we begin with breaking nows out of mali in west africa, with

a siege at a luxury hotel in africa is finally over. all of the remaining hostages at the radisson blu hotel in the capitol are now free, but at least 18 people are dead. witnesses say gunmen stormed the hotel more than seven hours ago, and a group affiliated with al-qaeda has claimed responsibility. ivan how did the siege finally come to an end, and what happened to the gunmen, and also do we know who the victims are? >> reporter: for several hours various security agencies have been trying to gain access to the radisson blu hotel. the operation involved french special forces who have a presence in bamako, malian forces, and u.n. peace keepers who also have a mission there. for several hours they were trying to gain access to the premises and managed to, and we know that at least 80 people at

some point in the last few hours were released, hostages were released or escaped or managed to get out. it's simply not clear whether they were let go of by the gunmen, or whether the operation to free them succeeded. however, there is some conflicting information about the death tell. one source is saying 18 bodies have been sited by eyewitnesss, but other reports suggest it could be as much as 27. still trying to get official clarification from the various security services involved in this operation as to how many may have been killed. the cause from all of this seems to have stemmed from this morning, when these men burst into the hotel, apparently screaming, chanting islamic words and language saying god is great, which means -- in arabic

god is great. and the whole thing went from bad to worse there. it's not clear at this moment what the identities of the attackers are, who they are, what they want. that's still trying to be ascertained, but as i said they were chanting islamic l low -- slogans. there were reports that some of the hostages were freed if they were able to recite verses of the quran. so this does point to some sort of jihadi group if you would like. one group claimed responsibility. it's a group connected to al-qaeda, but there have been a number of extremist operations operates in mali for years, so the security forces are still trying to find out exactly who or what caused this, and just finally -- my final point on this, speaking to an eyewitness on the ground just outside of the hotel.

apparently at least two of the gunmen have been killed as the siege was brought to an end, but, again, a lack of clarity about whether there was anymore incite. reports have been very sketchy. earlier in the day, reports were that two gunmen were involved, but then that rose to 10 to 15. >> and we don't know exactly who we're talking about when we talk about the possibility of 18 to 27 people dead. but we do know there were different nationalities among the hostages and some of them as you say were released, rescued or managed to escape. it was also earlier reported, ivan that the gunmen were releasing hostages who could recite verses from the quran. >> >> reporter: on the nationalities you are right.

early on received information that the various people being held came from different parts of the world. quickly early on in the day, turkish airlines put out a statement some of their staff were involved. it's a hotel that the airline uses for its staff. indian diplomatic representatives, talked of at least 20 indian nationals being involved in what was going on at the hotel. also french and chinese. on the issue of whether individuals were forced to recite the quran, it's very difficult to say. like we have been reporting, this is what eyewitnesses tell us. this is what some of those who escapes the gunmen have told security services. so one has to imagine this information is accurate, but people have been getting out of the situation in the hotel throughout the day in some respects. and one has to imagine that they

are in the process of sharing with the various security and intelligence services involved in this situation precisely what happened. what the gunmen told them to do, what the gunmen asked them to do. any information whatsoever that they can remember; that they can recall will obviously be valuable, particularly if it's ascertained, if it's confirmed that there were only two gentlemen involved and they both are dead. there has been a thorough sweep of the hotel, a sweep is ongoing of the hotel to make shire there are no more gunmen inside. >> ivan thank you. we have a statement from the state department here in the u.s. that they are aware that u.s. citizens might be present at the hotel. the u.s. embassy in bamako is looking to verify that

information. let's look another the group's leader. he once lead al-qaeda in the area, but split to form his own militia. the group has never pledged allegiance to isil, but does have ties to al-qaeda. the u.s. has charged him with terrorism in connection with the 2013 attack on an algerian gas refinery. that attack killed 40 hostages, including three americans. harden lang is a senior fellow at the center for american progress. he used to work in mali. >> the security posture in bamako has always been of some concern. there has always been a great deal of concern from the get-go that there could be an asymmetric attack in the area.

in bamako itself there have been some attacks off and on, recently at a restaurant, but it has been fairly quiet compared to the north of the country. this fact changes that. >> what should the international response be? >> for the french for instance -- the french in the wake particularly of what has happened in paris are looking at refocussing their efforts towards syria and iraq, so they are going to want to draw on all of their resources. this makes it difficult to call on their resources in west africa to redeploy them. >> there are several al-qaeda linked groups that have a presence in this area. is it possible this issal rivalry of sorts? >> i have no doubt that

rivalries, in terms of attention and reclaim the mantle of the leading jihad group in the world. it's unclear whether that competition is driving the timing of this attack. >> the u.s. military has confirmed that u.s. special forces are involved on the ground in mali in helping to evacuate civilians and bring them to safety. will that come to a surprise to a lot of americans? >> i think it's a bit of an open secret in mali that there has been a u.s. special forces presence for quite sometime. i think most americans aren't aware of it. this is not the lion's share of that commitment. and this is one of those moments where the fact that special operations were on the ground. you have a high-profile terror incident, that they are going to do what they can to help out.

>> lang added while isil has a significant presence in the middle east and east africa, it has not gained a strong foothold in west africa yet. al-qaeda is stronger there. european nations are tightening their borders in the wake of the paris attacks. and adam raney shows it, it's generally very easy to get between most e.u. countries. >> reporter: any -- my journey begins in the heart of paris. in a half hour we're on a highway towards the belgian border. a frenchman hesitated as he looked at us, but despite filming with lights, we're not stopped. then we approach the border itself. there's a lot of traffic-slowing cones out, and some flashing blue lights. i don't know if that is police, but we're only about 800 meters from the border into belgium.

and we'll see if we are going to get stopped bypassport control or security. we justs crossed into belgium from france. there was a security check point. a man with a flashlight, but no one asked us to stop or for a passport. we overnight in belgium. the next morning back to the border. a little less than a mile up the road, finally a sign you are in france. again, no security or police. it's hard to even know when you are in belgium or france. this is us. over here is belgium and over here is france. you cross the street and you are in another country. we met french and belgiums on their morning routine. >> translator: there is more security since friday. i was working so i didn't see

security. i didn't see police today. >> translator: europe should unify to do global work and not each country works alone. >> reporter: at the bakery, this french woman says she hasn't seen any security. >> no. no. >> reporter: what you do see are a lot of trucks, shipping, trade, the borders seem wide open to let commerce and people travel freely. in their midst militants looking to exploit the system to launch deadly attacks wherever they can. dana lewis has been reporting from paris, and dana there has been discussion about tightening these borders. what more can you tell us about an agreement to strengthen the borders? >> reporter: well, stephanie, not only has there been discussion -- i mean it has been a frantic, heated, emotional debate in the last few days,

especially after we learned that the master mind, abaaoud hid among refugees from syria, and made his way up to paris. there was at least one other attacker on friday night that came in also on a syrian passport and smuggled his way up to france. this is not the first time that abaaoud went back and forth from syria to belgium, and back again. he was on a wanted terrorist list, and nobody knew he was here. he did come up through greece. and certainly the interior ministry has been pushing for hard decisions out of the e.u. today. and they have made some promise to do so. one of the things they will talk about is at least look at travel documents. at least compare a travel

document in a photograph to a database and make sure it's the right person. they are talking about setting up an agency so there is a better exchange of information. and trying to restrict weapons and lockdown weapons that are making their way back and forth through the european union. but the main thing as adam just showed us, you can walk across any borderline, and there are more fears that the 5,000 jihadis that have made their way to syria and iraq, that many will come back and make these attacks. so it looks like there was some progress, but we'll have to wait to see how quickly they implement those. and it might take months to do so. >> there was another development today. we understand that officials have found a third body from that saint-denis raid.

has that body been identified yet? >> reporter: it has not. it is an important piece of intelligence information for the authorities to quickly identify. we knew from the beginning after the gun fight that they would find a third body. there are rumors they have abaaoud's body, his cousin, and another female they have found inside there. they need to identify her. and if abaaoud participated in these attacks in paris, that he was then -- after dumped a car, he has been spotted on a security camera in the subway system, and they have positively id-ed him as taking the subway.

>> dana lewis with a lot more details from paris today. thank you. we are also following the latest out of mali, at least 18 people dead after al-qaeda-linked gunmen attack a luxury hotel. more than on just ahead.

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follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. more now on the breaking news from mali. any government there says the siege at a luxury hotel is over. at least 18 are dead, and more than 100 hostages have been released. it is not yet clear if any americans were inside the hotel. u.s., french, and malian troops were all on the scene.

an al-qaeda-linked group is claiming responsibility. i want to bring in josh rushing now. josh, what do we know about the u.s. force's role in this hostage situation which has now ended. >> that was a surprise that came out this morning. we don't know a whole lot about it, but we have been in touch with u.s., africa command. and they gave us this statement saying the soldiers involved with special operations command. they were special ops. they fall under [ inaudible ] which is special ops command. i have experienced their training troops, i was in africa doing exactly that kind of mission. my guess is that the u.s. guys were not near the point of the sphere going into the hotel. different militaries units operate differently, so it can be very dangerous.

the way the u.s. would have been involved is on a tertiary level. >> what are the special operations forces doing there in general? >> yeah, there has been a weerl relationship between the u.s. military and mali. a few years ago there was a military coup. the u.s. suspended relations because of the coup. but just a month after the coup, there were still u.s. special operators on the ground. we know that was there were three soldiers who were killed. it has come up in testimony inning front of congress a couple of times. there is clearly a concern about terrorism-related groups in mali, and that's exactly the kind of thing that these special operators are trained to fight, not only in counter terrorism, but also intelligence. >> does the civilian assistance

role that you talk about in today's hostage situation, does that fall within what the u.s. trips are authorized to do there? or is that going to be an issue today? >> i'm not sure what this agreement would be. we have a very technical legal agreement between a foreign country as to what the soldiers can do. but i would have to say this would be a surprising development. in that they would not have been trained to interdict in this kind of operation. >> josh rushing, thank you for your incites on that. when we come back, we'll have more out of mali. again, at least 18 dead after al-qaeda-linked gunmen attack a luxury hotel. stay with us.

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a belgium official says one belgium citizen is dead. jonathan pal lard is now a free man after almost 30 years. the convicted spy was released from a federal prison in north carolina. these pictures are from near in new york where he checked in with probation officers. paul brennan takes a closer look at the man and the case. >> reporter: it was one of the most sensational spy cases in u.s. history. in 1985, jonathan palard, was arrested for selling thousands of classified documents to israeli intelligence. >> one thing that he has said that his attorneys and supports say is that he never intended to harm the united states, what he was doing was giving israel

important information at a time it was under pressure, siege from its enemy neighbors. >> reporter: but american officials say he put u.s. national security at risk. >> it was indeed a serious effort by the israeli government to penetrate our intelligence community, and it was successful. >> reporter: he took a plea deal in hopes of a lessen sentence, but the judge sentenced him to life in prison. >> the justice department double crossed him at that time. and so i thought, while what he did was wrong, and he deserved to be punished, he did not deserve a life sentence. so and i some others took up his cause. >> reporter: for three decades supports from called for pallard's release. in july a parole board decided they would release him from this

north carolina prison in november. >> translator: i'm counting the days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds until i can hug jonathan, so we can put this past behind us, open a new door and start a new life. >> reporter: rumors went wild. but officials insist his case is based on a law already on the books. >> we have been extremely far-thinking of people 30 years ago to sentence mr. p -- palard in connection with this release deal. >> reporter: his lawyers say they have secured him a job and home in new york, but they are asking the u.s. government to allow him to travel to the place he calls home, israel.

paul brennan, al jazeera, new york. i'm stephanie sy. the news continues next live from london. have a great weekend. ♪ after a seven-hour siege in a mali hotel, all of the hostages have been freed, but there are conflicting reports as to whether gunmen are still inside. ♪ hello there. i'm felicity barr, and this is al jazeera live from london nflt also coming up, the siege has been taking place a week after the attacks in paris where the death toll has now risen to 130. e.u. ministers agree to tighten checks on people entering and leaving the border-free zone. and russia