What is Soumaïla Cissé?
[[File:Soumaïla Cissé 2013 Portrait.jpg|thumb|200px|Cissé in {{circa|2013}}]] '''Soumaïla Cissé''' (20 December 1949 – 25 December 2020) was a [[Mali]]an politician. He served as the nation's [[Minister of Finance (Mali)|Minister of Finance]] from 1993 to 2000. He stood three times as a presidential [[candidate]], in 2002, 2013 and 2018. He was defeated in a second round of voting each time. He became president of the [[Union for the Republic and Democracy]], a political party, in 2014. Cissé was born in Nianfuke, near [[Timbuktu]]. He married Astan Traore in 1978. On 26 March 2020, Cissé was taken hostage in the [[Tombouctou Region]] by [[Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin]], a militant [[Islamist]] group. He was released on 6 October 2020. In late 2020, Cissé was taken to [[France]] for treatment of [[COVID-19]]. He died in [[Paris]] on 25 December 2020 at the age of 71.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/12/25/mali-opposition-leader-soumaila-cisse-dies-from-coronavirus//|title=Mali opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé dies from coronavirus|work=Africanews|date=25 December 2020|access-date=25 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-25/soumaila-cisse-mali-politician-who-was-held-hostage-dies-at-71|title=Soumaila Cisse, Mali Politician Who Was Held Hostage, Dies at 71|author=Hoije, Katarina|work=Bloomberg|date=25 December 2020|access-date=25 December 2020}}</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Cisse, Soumaila}} [[Category:1949 births]] [[Category:2020 deaths]] [[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Paris]] [[Category:Disease-related deaths in Paris]] [[Category:Kidnapped people]] [[Category:Malian politicians]] {{bio-stub}}