Heraldo de Madrid - Swiss, Austrian women freed after Niger kidnap ordeal

Swiss national Claudia Abbt, 69, arrived in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi together with 76-year-old Eva Gretzmacher, Libyan television channel Al Masar reported earlier, before their foreign ministries said they were on their way home.

The channel said the release followed an intervention from the family of military commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls eastern Libya and parts of the south.

Gretzmacher was taken on January 11, 2025, and Abbt was captured in April last year. Several false rumours of their release had emerged previously.

"Eva is free! Today is a wonderful day -- a day of relief and above all of gratitude," wrote the Austrian hostage's son Christoph Gretzmacher on Facebook.

"The nightmare is over."

- Diplomatic efforts -

Looking tired, the two women appeared in a video broadcast by the Libyan eastern-based television channel Al-Masar.

Sitting beneath a portrait of military commander and Libyan National Army chief Haftar, they spoke in French to confirm their names, ages, nationalities and time in captivity.

They thanked Haftar and his son Saddam for having secured their freedom.

Several media outlets also circulated a photograph of the two women seated inside an aircraft.

The countries did not give precise details of how the release was secured.

The foreign ministry in Bern said in a statement that the Swiss citizen was met in Benghazi "by Swiss federal administration staff and received medical care. She is doing well under the circumstances and is currently on her way back to Switzerland."

Vienna confirmed that Gretzmacher had been freed and was received by an Austrian crisis response team following "intensive diplomatic efforts to secure her release".

"We are all very relieved that Eva G. is free again after more than 21 months. This period has been an unimaginable ordeal for her and her family," Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in a statement.

"Today is a special day that moves us all.

"For many months, we worked closely, discreetly and in a spirit of trust with our regional, European, and international partners. These joint efforts have paid off."

- IS role -

The two women were both living in Agadez in northern Niger when they were captured.

No group has claimed the kidnappings, but a source close to the case told AFP that they were the work of the Islamic State - Sahel Province, a jihadist group.

"I am relieved that the kidnapped Swiss woman is free again after more than a year and a half," Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said in the statement.

"I would like to thank all parties involved, both in Switzerland and abroad, that worked tirelessly to secure her release."

After the kidnapping came to light, the Swiss foreign ministry set up a task force including police and intelligence resources to try to secure her release.

The ministry "extends its gratitude to all national and international partners for their excellent cooperation in this case," it said.

The ministry said it would not be providing further details, for privacy reasons.

A Malian security source told AFP that the women were transported by plane early Wednesday from Nigerien territory to Benghazi.

"The two had been held for a time in northern Mali, but the resolution came from the Libyan side, notably involving the Haftar clan," the source said.

The source added that they had been held in the Menaka region of northeastern Mali, an area where IS is highly active.

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G.Aguilar--HdM