Sjaak Rijke, Dutch hostage abducted by Al-Qaeda freed by French special forces

Sijaak Rijke

 

French special forces have freed Dutch hostage Sjaak Rijke, who was abducted by an al-Qaeda faction in Mali in 2011.

 

In a statement released on today, the ministry said that Rijke was taken to Tessalit after being rescued early in the morning.

 

Rijke was kidnapped by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) along with Johan Gustafsson from Sweden and Stephen Malcolm, who is a British-South African dual national.

 

Gustafsson's and Malcolm's whereabouts are still unknown.

Johan Gustafsson,  Stephen Malcolm and Sijaak Rijke

 

AQIM has released several videos of the hostages,  flanked by masked, black-clad gunmen, urging their respective governments to secure their release.