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French Hostage Released by Al-Qaeda in Northern Africa After 3 Years

© AP Photo / Michel EulerFrance's Serge Lazarevic and his daughter Diane listen to French President Francois Hollande, right, after he arrived at Villacoublay's military airport, west of Paris
France's Serge Lazarevic and his daughter Diane listen to French President Francois Hollande, right, after he arrived at Villacoublay's military airport, west of Paris - Sputnik International
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The 50-year-old businessman was initially feared dead after fighters killed another French hostage in retaliation for a French operation in Mali.

MOSCOW, December 9 (Sputnik) – The last French hostage held by Al-Qaeda’s North African branch has been freed, French President Francois Hollande announced.

The 50-year-old Frenchman, Serge Lazarevic, was released on Tuesday, and will be repatriated to France from Niger’s capital Niamey, according to France 24.

“He was the last French hostage still held overseas,” French foreign minister Laurent Fabius stated in an official release.

In an official communiqué, Hollande thanked the security forces of Mali and Niger, as well the two countries’ presidents for helping secure Lazarevic’s release.

A 50-year-old businessman, Lazarevic, who holds French and Serbian citizenship was kidnapped from a hotel in Mali in 2011, AP reported. He was last seen in a video released by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) last year. Sjaak Rikke, a Dutch hostage whose condition is still unknown, was also shown in the video.

Lazarevic was kidnapped alongside French geologist Philippe Verdon who was killed by AQIM last year, according to Euronews, in what the fighters said was retaliation for French military intervention in Mali.

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