Xinhua world news summary at 0030 GMT, Aug. 9

At least 12 people, including five soldiers, two civilians and one UN staff, have been killed after unknown militants on Friday attacked a hotel in central Mali, Malian officials said Saturday.

Four hostages have been freed from the Byblos hotel used by UN staff, according to the Directorate of Information and Public Affairs of the Malian Army, adding that four militants were also killed in the raid. (Mali-Attack)

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BOGOTA -- Colombian authorities confirmed that a Cessna 402 light aircraft crashed in the outskirts of Cajica municipality, about 28 kilometers north from Bogota, the national capital, Saturday, killing all three people on board.

The airplane, which belonged to the Aeroexpress company, reported an emergency at 10:02 a.m. local time (1502 GMT) Saturday before it crashed minutes in a rural area close to a house in the Cajica outskirts, the country's Civil Aeronautic said in an official statement. (Colombia-Plane Crash)

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DAMASCUS -- Over a thousand Syrians staged a sit-in in Syria's coastal Latakia city on Saturday, protesting against the killing of a Syrian officer by a suspected relative of President Bashar al-Assad over a fit of road rage, a monitor group and local media reported.

The people gathered at the al-Zera'a roundabout in the city of Latakia Saturday evening, holding posters of the slain Colonel Hassan al-Sheikh in the air forces, and chanting in support of the Syrian army, while urging the authorities to bring to justice Slaiman al-Assad, son of Hilal al-Assad, the cousin of President Bashar, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the pro-government Sham FM radio reported. (Syria-Protest) Endi