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Olivier Dubois, a French journalist who was kidnapped in Mali’s Gao area (north) on April 8, 2021 by the al Qaeda-linked Group to Help Islam and Muslims (GSIM), was launched on Monday and brought to neighbouring Niger. Dubois’s launch got here as US hostage Jeff Woodke was freed after greater than six years in captivity in Africa.
Following his launch from captivity, Dubois arrived at Niamey airport in neighbouring Niger on Monday afternoon. {A photograph} taken on the airport confirmed him smiling and sporting a white shirt and beige trousers.
Libération d’Olivier Dubois ce jour à Niamey. Sommes à l’aéroport où Olivier vient d’arriver. Libre!! Fin d’un calvaire de 711 jours. Joie immense et soulagement énorme pic.twitter.com/ilj9m4n9GW
— Amaury Hauchard (@amhauchard) March 20, 2023
The journalist introduced his kidnapping in a video that appeared on social media on Might 5, 2021. “He was on his approach to Gao to interview a jihadist chief. We now know he was captured by thugs who then handed him over to GSIM,” FRANCE 24’s jihadist knowledgeable Wassim Nasr mentioned.
Throughout a visit to Ivory Coast on December 10, 2022, French Overseas Minister Catherine Colonna mentioned France was doing “all the pieces doable” to free the journalist.
Dubois labored for numerous French information retailers, together with Libération, Le Level and Jeune Afrique, when he was kidnapped. He was held for nearly two years. Up till his launch, he was the one French hostage nonetheless in captivity because the October 2020 launch of Sophie Pétronin, a charity employee who was kidnapped in Mali in 2016.
US hostage kidnapped in Niger launched
Dubois’s launch got here as US hostage Jeff Woodke was launched after greater than six years in captivity in Africa, White Home Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan mentioned on Monday.
“I’m gratified & relieved to see the discharge of US hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity,” Sullivan mentioned on Twitter. Sullivan thanked Niger “for its assist in bringing him house”.
Woodke’s launch got here after years of efforts, a senior US official informed the Related Press. The official mentioned no ransom was paid and no concession was made to captors.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and AP)
