27 June, 2017
Johan Gustafsson, the 42-year-old Swedish man held captive by an al-Qaida linked group in Mali since 2011, has been released, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said Monday. A third foreigner had been freed in 2015 by French special forces.
She added that Swedish and foreign authorities had worked on his release alongside the foreign ministry and the police.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb captured Gustafsson along with two other men, both of whom are free, during a 2011 motorcycle trip in Mali.
The extremists were forced from their strongholds in 2013 by a French-led operation but continue to launch attacks on peacekeepers and Malian forces.
"I have already spoken to Johan and he was in good spirits and overwhelmed by everything that's going on".
The charity said in May 2017 that it was giving up its negotiating efforts after hitting a "dead end". The families of the hostages can't afford a ransom of millions of dollars, and the South African and Swedish governments will not negotiate, it said.
Goran Gustafsson, Johan Gustafsson's father, would not confirm or comment the information to Swedish news agency TT.
In January 2016, Swiss missionary Beatrice Stockly was kidnapped by AQIM, also in Timbuktu, after repeated threats from jihadists, and a proof of life video was released one year later. No group has claimed responsibility for her disappearance.
