Mali TV shows photos of man and woman suspected in hotel attack

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Authorities in Mali published the photographs on Monday of a man and a woman they said helped plan an attack on a luxury hotel in which 19 people and two gunmen were killed, according to state television, which showed the pictures. It is the first time the authorities have said they were seeking accomplices to the Nov. 20 attack by Islamist militants on the Radisson Blu hotel in the capital Bamako on Friday that ended when Malian commandos stormed the building. "They are suspects. People suspected of having links with the two terrorists (who attacked the hotel)," said a source close to the security ministry. Chief prosecutor Boubacar Sidiki Samake, who is leading the investigation, said authorities had recovered items that will help them to learn more about how the attack was planned. "We recovered telephones on them (the two bodies) and machine pistols," he said on state radio. The Massina Liberation Front, which has been blamed for previous violence in southern Mali, on Sunday became the third group to claim responsibility for the attack. Jihadist group Al Mourabitoun and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) already had claimed responsibility. (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Richard Balmforth)