France has a "reliable" proof of life dating back to "early March" from Sophie Pétronin, the French humanitarian worker kidnapped in Mali and held hostage since December 24, 2016, reported on Tuesday in a press release his relatives, including his son Sébastien Chadaud-Pétronin.

"The Quai d'Orsay speaks of proof of life in early March but no details on it, it's a bit thin but it's better than nothing," he told franceinfo. "We are still happy to know that she is alive even if it still makes us very sad."

"It is difficult," he added. "We have the impression that there is no prospect of getting Sophie Pétronin out of hell. With all those close to us, we continue to search how we could help him."

Questioned by AFP, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment.

According to this press release sent by the humanitarian nephew, originally from Bordeaux and kidnapped in Gao (northern Mali) by armed men, "the French authorities via the Quai d'Orsay crisis cell summoned" his son Sébastien Chadaud -Pétronin last week "to tell him important news".

Last video received in June 2018

On December 30, the humanitarian's husband, Jean-Pierre Pétronin, deplored the silence surrounding the fate of his wife, a medical practitioner in his seventies, saying he had the feeling that she had been "forgotten". "We don't know if she is alive. We haven't had any news at all for a year," he lamented on the third anniversary of his captivity.

The last video in which Sophie Pétronin appeared was received in mid-June 2018. She seemed very tired there, her face emaciated, and appealed to Emmanuel Macron. In another video in November 2018, where she did not appear, her captors claimed that her state of health had deteriorated.

Sophie Pétronin, who ran a small Franco-Swiss NGO helping children suffering from malnutrition, was kidnapped on December 24, 2016 in Gao, in the north of Mali, and has since been detained by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

With AFP and Reuters

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