The French Mali correspondent Olivier Dubois has been released after 711 days in the hands of the Islamist terrorist organization Al Qaeda. The 49-year-old journalist, who works for "Le Point", "Libération" and "Jeune Afrique", was kidnapped in Gao on 8 April 2021.
Michaela Wiegel
Political correspondent based in Paris.
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He had offered the newspaper "Libération" an interview with the leading terrorist Abdallah Ag Albakaye, which the editors considered too dangerous. On the way to the interview, he was kidnapped as a hostage.
Dubois, who hails from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, arrived at the airport in Niamey, Niger, on Monday. The organization Reporters Without Borders spoke of an "immense relief" over the release.
French civilians have long been a popular target for kidnappings by criminal and Islamist groups in West Africa's arid Sahel. France has repeatedly denied paying ransom for hostages.