[Al Arabiya Latest] A Swiss hostage held by a branch of Al-Qaeda since January has been freed, Switzerland's foreign ministry confirmed Sunday, adding that he had received medical attention and would be heading home. "The Swiss Foreign Ministry learnt with joy that the efforts towards the liberation of the last Swiss hostage in Mali has been successful," said the ministry in a statement. " Mali did everything -- everything. Unfortunately, he was killed in the end "Malian official |
Werner Greiner, who was abducted on January 22, was the last western hostage still being held by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) of six westerners seized in the Sahel region in December and January. He was snatched along with his wife Gabriella Burco, and fellow tourists Marianne Petzold of Germany and British national Edwin Dyer in Niger, near the border with Mali.
Burco and Petzold were released on April 22, along with two Canadian diplomats kidnapped in December but Greiner and Dyer were not freed. Dyer was beheaded on June 5. "Mali did everything -- everything. Unfortunately, he was killed in the end," a Malian official told AFP, calling the murder "terrible."