U.S. aid worker, French journalist freed after years held hostage in West Africa – National | 24CA News
An American assist employee held by Islamic extremists in West Africa for greater than six years and a French journalist kidnapped virtually two years in the past had been each freed Monday, authorities stated.
They had been introduced collectively to Niger’s capital. U.S. officers stated no ransom had been paid for assist employee Jeffery Woodke, praising Niger’s authorities for serving to his launch. The French authorities didn’t touch upon how journalist Olivier Dubois’ freedom was gained.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a go to to Niger final week and introduced $150 million in direct help to the Sahel area.
Officials in Niger unexpectedly introduced Monday morning that the 2 males had taken a particular flight to the nation’s capital however offered no particulars. U.S. officers stated that the American hostage was not freed in Niger however within the surrounding area that features Mali, the place Dubois was kidnapped in 2021.
The two males had been the highest-profile foreigners identified to be held within the area, and their launch was the most important since a French lady and two Italian males had been all freed collectively in Mali again in October 2020.
The press group Reporters Without Borders, which had lengthy pushed for Dubois’ launch, stated that “we feel joy and immense relief,” and thanked French authorities.
Els Woodke, launched an announcement via a household spokesman saying she had not but spoken along with her husband however had been informed he was in good situation.
“She praises God for answering the prayers of Christians everywhere who have prayed for this outcome,” the assertion learn.
Woodke had been kidnapped from his house in Abalak, Niger, in October 2016 by males who ambushed and killed his guards and compelled him at gunpoint into their truck, the place he was pushed north towards Mali’s border.
At a 2021 news convention in Washington, Els Woodke stated she believed that her husband was being held by an al-Qaida-linked militant group generally known as JNIM and stated her husband’s captors had made a multi-million-dollar ransom demand for his launch.
Dubois additionally was being held by JNIM militants, although it was unclear how a lot time the 2 overseas hostages had spent in captivity collectively, stated Laith Alkhouri, CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory.
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“While it remains unclear what circumstances led to the release of the hostages, it might not be a coincidence that their freedom came as Blinken wrapped up his visit to Niger and earmarked millions of dollars in aid, some of which could have oiled the Niger government to use its intelligence apparatus in negotiating their release,” Alkhouri stated.
Groups have lengthy kidnapped hostages for ransom within the Sahel, the huge, semi-arid expanse beneath the Sahara Desert. Previously launched captives have described being moved steadily from web site to web site in harrowing situations amid sweltering temperatures. The extremists goal to make use of tens of millions in ransom to fund their jihadi operations, although not all international locations have interaction in fee negotiations.
The Biden administration official didn’t establish the precise group believed liable for holding Woodke in captivity, saying quite a few overlapping networks in operated in that a part of West Africa.
At least 25 foreigners and untold numbers of locals have been kidnapped within the Sahel since 2015, in response to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. In 2020, Swiss authorities stated Christian missionary Beatrice Stoeckli was killed by her militant captors.
Militants with hyperlinks to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group are believed to nonetheless be holding quite a few captives, together with a German priest. The Rev. Hans-Joachim Lohre was making ready to have fun Mass in Mali’s capital when he was kidnapped final November.
Last yr an Italian couple and their youngster had been kidnapped with a family worker in southern Mali.
— Tucker reported from Washington and Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Sam Mednick in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Angela Charlton in Paris and Baba Ahmed in Bamako, Mali contributed.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
