Spanish hostage freed in Mali - government

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish woman held hostage in Mali by a group believed to be al Qaeda's wing in North Africa has been freed, the Spanish government said on Wednesday.

The government was unable to confirm a report by Italy's Ansa news agency that an Italian woman was freed at the same time as Spaniard Alicia Gamez.

Aid-worker Gamez was part of an aid convoy travelling to southern Senegal when she was seized in northern Mauritania in November along with two Spanish colleagues, Albert Vilalta and Roque Pascual. An Italian couple were also kidnapped.

"We will continue working hard to ensure that Albert and Roque can come home as soon as possible," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference.

(Reporting by Nigel Davies; Editing by Charles Dick)