PARIS, March 21 (Reuters) – French journalist Olivier Dubois, a former hostage in Mali, returned to France on Wednesday after nearly two years in captivity.
Olivier Dubois arrived at the Villacoublay air base, south-west of Paris, at midday, where he was welcomed by his half-sister and his father, as well as by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron.
Olivier Dubois, whose release was announced Monday by the Nigerien authorities, was according to Niamey in the hands of the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM), affiliated with Al Qaeda. A collaborator of Liberation and Le Point, he disappeared in Gao, in northeastern Mali, in April 2021.
The French journalist was released with Jeffery Woodke, an American aid worker released after six years in captivity.
“It’s huge for me to be here today,” he said Monday in Niamey, Niger’s capital. “I didn’t expect it at all. I feel tired but I’m fine.”
Olivier Dubois was the last Frenchman still held hostage by armed groups in the Sahel region. The French authorities did not comment on the conditions of his release, but thanked Niger for its role in this outcome. (Report John Irish, Yves Herman, Reuters TV, written by Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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