Aug. 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French authorities have indicated this Friday that the withdrawal from Mali does not diminish the efforts to free Olivier Dubois, a French journalist kidnapped in April 2021 by the Al Qaeda affiliate in Mali when he was preparing to interview one of its leaders.
“The withdrawal of Operation Barkhane from Mali does not diminish in any way the mobilization of France to free Mr. Olivier Dubois”, the deputy spokesman for Foreign Affairs, François Delmas, told a press conference, adding that “everything possible is being done “to finally get him home.
“Discretion is an essential condition for the effectiveness of the State’s action and the security of people,” he added, also stressing that they maintain regular contact with the journalist’s family, according to comments collected by the Ministry.
Reporters Without Borders secretary general Christophe Deloire said Thursday that Dubois is “the only French hostage in the world” and that the Malian authorities “have even more responsibility to secure his release.”
The latest news about the journalist dates back to March 14. In a video taken by his captors from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) — a coalition of armed groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda — the journalist called on French authorities to work for his release.
Dubois is the only Frenchman in the hands of armed groups in Mali, after the release in October 2020 of the aid worker Sophie Petronin, kidnapped on December 24, 2016 in Gao. Along with her, the Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cissé -who died months later due to the coronavirus-, and the Italians Niccola Chiacchio and Pierluigi Maccalli were released.
In recent months, Mali has been registering a growing number of jihadist attacks carried out by both the Al Qaeda branch in the region and the Islamic State branch, which has also increased inter-community violence and caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people.
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