APA – Bamako (Mali) – The announcement was made on Wednesday 9 August and confirmed by the Romanian authorities.
This marks the end of eight years of captivity for Iulian Ghergut. Now aged 47, the man “is currently safe on Romanian territory,” where he returned today, according to the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It praised Morocco’s efforts in bringing about this happy outcome.
At the time of his abduction on 4 April 2015, Lulian Ghergut was working as a security officer at a manganese mine in northern Burkina Faso, near the borders with Mali and Niger. His abduction was claimed by “Al-Mourabitoune,” one of the components of the al-Qaeda-linked ‘Groupe de Soutien à l’Islam et aux Musulmans’ (JNIM, Arabic acronym). The GSIM was formed in 2017 and has been behind several kidnappings of Westerners in the Sahel, particularly in the so-called “three borders” or Liptako Gourma area.
As with the other Western hostages released recently, the conditions that led to this happy ending have not been revealed. Even though the GSIM, unlike the Islamic State, uses its hostages as a source of funding for its activities in the Sahel. Not to mention the fact that Westerners refuse to admit paying ransom for the release of their
hostages.
In recent months, there has been a wave of releases of Western hostages by the GSIM. Last May, the group freed 88-year-old Australian doctor Kenneth Elliott, who had been kidnapped in Burkina Faso in January 2016 along with his wife, who was released after a few days in captivity. Last March, French journalist Olivier Dubois (kidnapped in Gao in April 2021) and American humanitarian Jeffrey Woodke (kidnapped on 14 October 2016 in Niger) were released.
However, there are still a few foreign hostages in the Sahel. These include the South African Gerco Van Deventer, kidnapped in November 2017 in southern Libya before being handed over to the JNIM. There is also the case of the Italian couple Rocco Antonio Langone and Maria Donata Caivano, aged 64 and 62, and their son Giovanni, aged 43, who were abducted in May 2022 in the Koutiala region of southern Mali, where they were living as Jehovah’s Witnesses. The last and most emblematic case is that of the German priest Hans-Joachim Lohre, whose
disappearance in the heart of Bamako last November resembled a kidnapping, although no one has yet claimed responsibility. These are the best-known cases, as they are widely publicized in the media, unlike dozens of other Africans, notably citizens of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, who have been held captive for several years in total
indifference.
MD/ac/fss/abj/APA