French hostage Sophie Pétronin, kidnapped in Gao in Mali on December 24, 2016 by a group linked to Al-Qaeda.
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Handout / www.liberons-sophie.fr
She is now free.
Sophie Pétronin, 75, the last French woman held hostage in the world was released this Thursday, along with Soumaïla Cissé, former head of the Malian parliamentary opposition and second three times in the presidential election, kidnapped on March 25 .
The last images of the Frenchwoman had been received in mid-June 2018. On the video, she seemed very tired, her face emaciated, and appealed to French President Emmanuel Macron.
In another video in November 2018, where she did not appear, her captors claimed that her health had deteriorated.
Established in Mali since the early 2000s
A nutritionist, Sophie Pétronin moved to Gao, Mali, in the early 2000s, after discovering the country in 1996 during a week of roaming in contact with the Tuaregs.
His professional skills have since been put at the service of the Swiss association "Aide à Gao", which helps malnourished children.
His name was therefore well known in northern Mali.
On April 5, 2012, she found herself caught up in the aftermath of the coup.
Refugee at the Algerian consulate, Sophie Pétronin had narrowly escaped, already, a kidnapping, in incredible circumstances that she will tell a few weeks later to the
released Dauphiné
.
A first kidnapping attempt in 2012
That day, Islamists kidnapped seven Algerian diplomats.
She is exfiltrated with the help of Tuareg rebels - “We drove with all lights out in Gao.
An armed guard escorted us ”- and managed to return to France, after having crossed“ 600 kilometers of dunes ”in one night to the French embassy in Algeria.
She will only spend two months in the Cévennes, with her family, before returning to Mali.
Four years later, she had been unable to escape kidnapping by armed men.
In May 2019, during a tribute in Paris to two French soldiers killed in Burkina Faso during a hostage release operation, President Emmanuel Macron specifically mentioned Sophie Pétronin, "at the hands of her captors": "We let's not forget that.
Those who attack a Frenchman must know that our nation never abandons its children, whatever the circumstances and even on the other side of the planet, ”he said.
In April 2020, the family of the Bordelaise had received good news after months of silence.
"The French state has reliable proof of Sophie's life as of early March," wrote his relatives.
More than a hundred convicted or suspected jihadists were released in Mali over the past weekend as part of negotiations for the release of the two hostages.
The prisoners were released in the Niono sector (center) and in the Tessalit region (north) to where they were airlifted, he said.
Sophie Pétronin's son, Sébastien Chadaud, left Geneva on Tuesday morning for Bamako, amid rumors of the release of the septuagenarian.
“It was on his initiative, he left this morning.
You have to be very careful… ”his nephew had indicated.
World
Mali: Sophie Pétronin, last French hostage in the world, has been released
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