Kidnapped in Libya: Jihadists release hostages after six years

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More than six years after being kidnapped by jihadists in Libya, a South African hostage has reportedly been released in Mali. Gerco Van Deventer (48) was released on Friday and taken to a hospital in neighboring Algeria, the AFP news agency learned on Sunday from circles within the Malian security forces. This corresponded with information from the South African aid organization Gift of the Givers, which was involved as an intermediary in the liberation.

The South African, who worked for a security company, was kidnapped in Libya along with three Turkish engineers on November 3, 2017. The group was on its way to a power plant construction site about a thousand kilometers south of the capital Tripoli.

The three engineers were released seven months later, while Van Deventer remained imprisoned and was transferred to Mali. Employees of foreign companies are repeatedly victims of kidnappings in Libya. Chaos and violence have reigned in the North African country since the fall of ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011, with armed militias and foreign mercenaries fighting each other. (AFP)

Source: Blick