Malian rebels have released seven Algerian hostages captured on Saturday, local TV and newspaper reports say. A consul and six diplomats were kidnapped during the capture of Gao, a large city in the north of the country, by Tuareg rebels and radical Islamists, who claimed they were behind the attack. A civil war broke out in Mali after a coup last month, and on Friday Tuareg rebels proclaimed independence for the north of the country.