Olivier Dubois, who disappeared on April 8, says he was kidnapped by the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) led by Iyad Ag Ghali.
In a 21-second video posted Tuesday on social networks, the freelance journalist, working in partnership with French newspapers Liberation and Le Point, confirmed his kidnapping by GSIM, a group affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
According to Wassim Nasr, a journalist at France 24 and a specialist in jihadist movements, Olivier Dubois “was trapped” because was conned to believe “in an interview with a local jihadist commander.”
Established in Mali in 2015, the Frenchman traveled to Gao, in the north of the country, in early April, in the hope of meeting the resource person.
Mr. Nasr explains, that the journalist’s video “removes any ambiguity” about his status with his interlocutors.
ID/fss/as/APA