French President Says No Ransom Paid
THE French family kidnapped in Cameroun and allegedly held hostage in Nigeria – Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his wife, Albane, their four young children and his brother, Cyril have been released.
French President François Hollande denied that a ransom was paid.
Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, an expatriate employee of the French gas group, GDF Suez, based in Yaoundé, the Camerounian capital, his four children, aged between four and 12, as well as his wife and brother, were on holiday near the Waza National Park in the country's north when they were kidnapped in February this year by men on motorbikes armed with Kalashnikovs.
The gunmen, claiming to be members of Nigerian militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram, later released videos of the family, threatening to kill them if authorities in Nigeria and Cameroun did not release Muslim militants held there.
It was the first case of foreigners being taken in the north of Cameroun, a former French colony, and it came six weeks after France launched a military intervention in Mali to oust Islamist groups who had taken over a swathe of the north after a coup in the country.
Hollande told a news conference Friday in Paris that secret talks had been taking place over several weeks to secure their release, but insisted that no ransom was paid to secure their freedom. "France has not changed its position, which is not to pay ransoms," he said.
In February, the former United States Ambassador to Mali, Vicki Huddleston, had claimed that France, in recent years, had paid millions of dollars in ransoms in the Sahel that had ultimately funded the al-Qaida-linked militants its troops were fighting in Mali, an allegation French officials denied.
Hollande added: "I spoke to the father this morning … He told me how happy and relieved he was. This is an immense relief. This will redouble our determination to free the hostages who remain."
Eight French hostages are still being held by al-Qaida-linked groups in the Sahel region.
Last month, a video surfaced showing a man who appeared to be Moulin-Fournier, saying his family was being held by Boko Haram, which wanted its members freed, especially women and children held by Nigerian and Camerounian authorities.
In the video, the man said his family was not doing well in captivity, saying: "We lose strength every day and are starting to get sick."
French Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, has flown to Cameroun and said the family would be repatriated as soon as possible.
When contacted, spokesman of the Joint (Military) Task Force (JTF) in Borno State, the hub of Boko Haram activities, Col. Sagir Musa, said the hostages were not released in Nigeria, but in Cameroun and handled by the Camerounian authorities.
