Suede kidnapped by al-Qaeda freed after 6 years

STOCKHOLM 26 June 2017: Hostage Johan Gustafsson, held by al-Qaeda in Mali since 2011, has been freed, the BBC quoted the Swedish government as saying on Monday.

Gustafsson, 42, is being flown back to Sweden from Africa, Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said in a statement on Monday.

He was seized by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) along with two other men, one of whom was freed in a dawn raid in 2015.

Wallström said Gustafsson was "in good spirits", local media report.

"It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Johan Gustafsson has been released," Wallström added.

She said that the Swede's release was thanks to "extensive efforts" and co-operation between the Swedish foreign ministry, police and "foreign authorities".

Wallström said she had spoken with Gustafsson, who she described as being "happy" and "overwhelmed" by Monday's events.

"I can not say more at the current time," she added.

Gustafsson was kidnapped along with South African Stephen McGown and Dutchman Sjaak Rijke.

Rijke was freed by French special forces in April 2015 after he was discovered by chance in a dawn raid in northern Mali.

AQIM took a number of Western hostages before the French military deployed its forces in January 2013.

In a separate incident in December 2014, French hostage Serge Lazarevic was freed after a prisoner swap.