Two women from Austria and Switzerland who had spent more than a year and a half in captivity after separate abductions in Niger were reported freed. Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said on October 22 that an Austrian crisis team had received the Austrian woman and that Austria had worked with Switzerland on securing a safe outcome. (africacenter.org)
Reporting published by KOACI on October 23, citing Libyan broadcaster Al-Mansar, said the women had been released on Wednesday, October 21, and taken to Benghazi in eastern Libya. The broadcaster attributed a role in the release to Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the eastern-based Libyan National Army. The precise arrangements were not disclosed. (koaci.com)
The accounts concern successive stages—release, transfer and official reception—not necessarily contradictory dates. Neither the reporting reviewed nor the official comments summarized by AP identified the abductors or explained how the women’s freedom was obtained. No inference about ransom payments or a military rescue is warranted. (africacenter.org)