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| French Commando Raid in Mali Frees Dutch Captive | French Commando Raid in Mali Frees Dutch Captive |
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| PARIS — A Dutch citizen held captive in the Sahara for more than three years by the North African branch of Al Qaeda was freed on Monday by French special forces, who mounted a rescue operation without knowing whom they were trying to save. | PARIS — A Dutch citizen held captive in the Sahara for more than three years by the North African branch of Al Qaeda was freed on Monday by French special forces, who mounted a rescue operation without knowing whom they were trying to save. |
| French commandos raided a terrorist camp in northern Mali at 5 a.m., killed the fighters there after an exchange of gunfire, and found Sjaak Rijke, the Dutch hostage, said Col. Gilles Jaron, a spokesman for the French Army’s chief of staff. | French commandos raided a terrorist camp in northern Mali at 5 a.m., killed the fighters there after an exchange of gunfire, and found Sjaak Rijke, the Dutch hostage, said Col. Gilles Jaron, a spokesman for the French Army’s chief of staff. |
| “This was an operation that was carried out with the knowledge that a high-value person was there, though we had not completely determined his identity,” Colonel Jaron said. “We knew it was someone very important, and we knew we were mounting a rescue operation.” | “This was an operation that was carried out with the knowledge that a high-value person was there, though we had not completely determined his identity,” Colonel Jaron said. “We knew it was someone very important, and we knew we were mounting a rescue operation.” |
| Mr. Rijke, a former railroad conductor, was abducted from the hotel where he was staying in Timbuktu, the Malian desert city, on Nov. 25, 2011. He was freed on Monday from a camp near Tessalit, one of the northernmost towns in Mali, in an area that has served at least since 2006 as a base for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the African branch. | Mr. Rijke, a former railroad conductor, was abducted from the hotel where he was staying in Timbuktu, the Malian desert city, on Nov. 25, 2011. He was freed on Monday from a camp near Tessalit, one of the northernmost towns in Mali, in an area that has served at least since 2006 as a base for Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the African branch. |
| The commandos took Mr. Rijke to a French military base in Tessalit, where he was declared to be “safe and sound,” according to a statement from the French Defense Ministry. France has 3,000 military personnel in Mali and Chad as part of the so-called Barkhane military operation aimed at containing advances by Qaeda-linked Islamic extremists in northwestern Africa. | The commandos took Mr. Rijke to a French military base in Tessalit, where he was declared to be “safe and sound,” according to a statement from the French Defense Ministry. France has 3,000 military personnel in Mali and Chad as part of the so-called Barkhane military operation aimed at containing advances by Qaeda-linked Islamic extremists in northwestern Africa. |
| Mr. Rijke had been visiting Timbuktu on an adventure tour of northern Mali along with a small group of other Europeans, including citizens of Germany, Britain and Sweden, when he was seized in 2011. They had arrived by motorcycle and four-wheel-drive vehicle and were staying at a small budget hotel on the edge of the city, according to Mahane Toure, a hotel owner in the town. He said the group was drinking soft drinks inside the hotel when gunmen burst in. | Mr. Rijke had been visiting Timbuktu on an adventure tour of northern Mali along with a small group of other Europeans, including citizens of Germany, Britain and Sweden, when he was seized in 2011. They had arrived by motorcycle and four-wheel-drive vehicle and were staying at a small budget hotel on the edge of the city, according to Mahane Toure, a hotel owner in the town. He said the group was drinking soft drinks inside the hotel when gunmen burst in. |
| The extremists herded Mr. Rijke and two other men — Stephen Malcom, who has British and South African citizenship, and Johan Gustafsson, a Swede — into a truck at gunpoint. | The extremists herded Mr. Rijke and two other men — Stephen Malcom, who has British and South African citizenship, and Johan Gustafsson, a Swede — into a truck at gunpoint. |
| A German tourist who refused to get in the truck was killed on the spot. When the police arrived some 40 minutes later, all they found was the German’s body and a stain of blood in the sand. | A German tourist who refused to get in the truck was killed on the spot. When the police arrived some 40 minutes later, all they found was the German’s body and a stain of blood in the sand. |
| One member of the touring group escaped harm, a European woman who has been identified in news reports as Mr. Rijke’s wife. She had set up her tent on the grounds of the hotel and was inside with the zipper closed when the assailants burst into the hotel, and she managed to go unnoticed. | |
| Mr. Malcom and Mr. Gustafsson were not found during the raid on Monday. They are presumed to still be hostages. | Mr. Malcom and Mr. Gustafsson were not found during the raid on Monday. They are presumed to still be hostages. |
| The abduction put an end to tourism in Timbuktu, said Mr. Toure, who owns the Hotel Colombe, the largest hotel in the city. “It was as if the sky had turned itself inside out — no one came to Timbuktu after that.” | The abduction put an end to tourism in Timbuktu, said Mr. Toure, who owns the Hotel Colombe, the largest hotel in the city. “It was as if the sky had turned itself inside out — no one came to Timbuktu after that.” |
| Mr. Rijke was known to be in the hands of the Furqan Battalion of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The group issued a “proof of life” video last November showing Mr. Rijke bearded and emaciated, according to Jean-Paul Rouiller, director of the Geneva Center for the Training and Analysis of Terrorism. | Mr. Rijke was known to be in the hands of the Furqan Battalion of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The group issued a “proof of life” video last November showing Mr. Rijke bearded and emaciated, according to Jean-Paul Rouiller, director of the Geneva Center for the Training and Analysis of Terrorism. |
| Intelligence officials in Bamako, the capital of Mali, as well as in Europe said that the ambassadors of the Netherlands, Britain, South Africa and Sweden had been meeting biweekly seeking a way to free the hostages. But the talks were stalled because none of the governments were willing to pay the millions of dollars the group was demanding for their release. | Intelligence officials in Bamako, the capital of Mali, as well as in Europe said that the ambassadors of the Netherlands, Britain, South Africa and Sweden had been meeting biweekly seeking a way to free the hostages. But the talks were stalled because none of the governments were willing to pay the millions of dollars the group was demanding for their release. |
| Ransom payments have become a main source of financing for Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates, which have obtained at least $125 million through kidnappings since 2008, most of it paid by European governments or their proxies, according to an investigation by The New York Times. | Ransom payments have become a main source of financing for Al Qaeda and its direct affiliates, which have obtained at least $125 million through kidnappings since 2008, most of it paid by European governments or their proxies, according to an investigation by The New York Times. |
| “He is one lucky man,” one European intelligence official said of Mr. Rijke. The official asked not to be named in order to discuss classified information. “There was a Ping-Pong going on between the different services” of the four nations over the issue of ransom, the official said. “He was found by a sheer piece of luck.” | “He is one lucky man,” one European intelligence official said of Mr. Rijke. The official asked not to be named in order to discuss classified information. “There was a Ping-Pong going on between the different services” of the four nations over the issue of ransom, the official said. “He was found by a sheer piece of luck.” |
| The Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, expressed relief at the news of Mr. Rijke’s liberation, saying he was “happy and relieved that this terrible period of uncertainty and sadness has been brought to an end.” | The Dutch foreign minister, Bert Koenders, expressed relief at the news of Mr. Rijke’s liberation, saying he was “happy and relieved that this terrible period of uncertainty and sadness has been brought to an end.” |