Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci confirmed Sunday the release of three of the seven Algerian diplomats abducted in April in northern Mali.

"I can say that three of our diplomats have been freed and are back home. What I can say also is that we are hopeful to see all seven diplomats handed over as quickly as possible," Medelci told a press conference.

This was Algeria's first official confirmation on the release of three of its seven diplomats kidnapped on April 5 in Gao in northern Mali. They are a consul and six consular staff.

On Thursday, local media reported that three of the kidnapped diplomats have returned home by army aircraft.

The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), which claimed responsibility for the abduction, announced last week that it had set free three of the hostages.

Algerian diplomats have been taken hostage by MUJAO, a dissident group from al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, possibly because the Algerian government has been long combatting Islamist militants on its own territory.

A spokesman of MUJAO stated earlier that the group requires a ransom worth 15 million euros (about 18.35 million U.S. dollars) to release the diplomats.

Algeria has proposed that the United Nations ban the payment of ransoms to terror groups in exchange of releasing hostages, saying the ransoms are used to finance arm deals of these groups.

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