![]() The Biden administration official did not identify the specific group believed responsible for holding Woodke, saying overlapping networks operated in that part of West Africa.Īt least 25 foreigners and untold numbers of locals have been kidnapped in the Sahel since 2015, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. The extremists aim to use ransom money to fund their jihadi operations, though not all countries engage in payment negotiations. Previously released captives have described being moved frequently from site to site in harrowing conditions and sweltering temperatures. Groups have long abducted hostages for ransom in the Sahel, the vast, semi-arid expanse below the Sahara Desert. The identity of the other hostage freed in Niger was not made public. ![]() ![]() ![]() administration official, speaking on background, said Woodke was the second American to be freed in the last six months and that the topic had come up last week during Blinken’s visit to Niamey. The aid “could have oiled the Niger government to use its intelligence apparatus in negotiating their release,” Alkhouri said.Ī senior U.S. “Deep gratitude to Niger for this release.”Īlthough it remained unclear what led to the releases, “it might not be a coincidence” that the hostages’ freedom came after Blinken visited Niger and offered millions of dollars in aid, Alkhouri said. “Immense relief for the nation, for his relatives and fellow journalists,” Macron tweeted. Woodke and Debois were the highest-profile foreigners known to be held in the region, and their release was the largest since a French woman and two Italian men were freed together in Mali in October 2020.įrench President Emmanuel Macron wrote that he had spoken with Dubois on Monday. This was just hard, grueling, deliberate work by diplomats and other experts directly with the government of Niger to get him home.” “It was a team effort to get him out, and there were no concessions made,” Kirby said. military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, working closely with the French. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said efforts to free Woodke were headed by U.S. The organization would not disclose the employees’ identities or the circumstances of their abductions, and it could not be confirmed if there was any connection to the other hostages who were released. officials said the American hostage was not freed in Niger but in the surrounding region that includes Mali, where Dubois was abducted in 2021.Īlso on Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced that two of its employees were freed in Mali. Officials in Niger unexpectedly announced Monday morning that the two men had taken a special flight to the country’s capital but provided no details. Gunmen ambushed and killed his guards, then forced him at gunpoint into their truck, where he was driven north toward Mali’s border.Īt a 2021 news conference in Washington, Els Woodke said she believed her husband was being held by an al-Qaida-linked militant group known as JNIM and that his captors had sought a multimillion-dollar ransom.ĭubois also was being held by JNIM militants, though it was unclear how much time the two foreign hostages had spent in captivity together, said Laith Alkhouri, CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory. Woodke lived in Niger for three decades and had been kidnapped from his home in the town of Abalak in October 2016. “I’m very pleased we are now seeing that come to fruition today,” Blinken said, thanking his team, and Niger, for their efforts. And to pay tribute to France and to all those who made it possible to be here today.”īlinken visited the region last week and on Thursday spoke to the press in Niger, where he announced $150 million in direct assistance to the Sahel region. I would like to pay tribute to Niger, and to its knowledge of these types of delicate missions. “It’s amazing for me to be here, to be free,” the 48-year-old journalist said. “I’m very happy to be back in Niamey again, in Niger, my second country, and I’ve nothing more to say apart from, ‘Hello to my family.’ That’s all,” he said.ĭubois beamed as he greeted well-wishers, telling journalists that he was tired but otherwise fine.
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