Wüstenschiff

McGown war nach Angaben des südafrikanischen Außenministeriums bereits am 29. Juli freigelassen worden. Ein Lösegeld sei nicht gezahlt worden, hieß es in Pretoria. Vor Monatsfrist war bereits der Schwede Johan Gustsson freigelassen worden. Auch da hatte es geheißen, Lösegeld sei nicht geflossen.

Mr. McGown’s captivity had become a cause célèbre in South Africa, but his freedom came at a price: A retired European intelligence official said on Thursday that 3.5 million euros (about $4.2 million) had been paid.The retired official, who requested anonymity to discuss delicate information, said that the payment was negotiated through Gift of the Givers Foundation, a South African charity that had campaigned for Mr. McGown’s release. The former official said it was transferred by an undercover agent working for French security services in the Adrar des Iforas mountains in the deserts of northern Mali where Qaeda militants have held hostages. “It was an operation managed by France and South African intelligence through an intermediary,” the former official said.

Hostage negotiator Mohamed Yehia Dicko, who travelled to Mali nine times to broker his release, said he too looked forward to meeting McGown. “I always told Imtiaz he would be released. Al-Qaeda in the north of Mali are not like Isis, they are not too brutal. “They know these people (hostages) are innocent tourists. They treat them well, they don’t beat them, they eat the same food with them, they live in the same conditions. They play soccer and do everything together ... [...]

[...] In May, Gift of the Givers said the negotiations had succeeded in reducing the ransom request from €20million (R315m) to €8.5m but a plea was made to the king of Qatar in May this year as a last resort. “The king has been successful in negotiating the release of many a hostage at the behest of diverse governments.” But Sooliman said on Friday: “We never got a response to this day”. The government has denied paying a ransom, and Gift of the Givers too has denied knowledge of one. Sooliman said the final part of the release was done “government to government”. But on Friday night, in an interview with eNCA, New York Times correspondent Rukmini Callimachi said: “Governments do pay ransoms. “It’s an impossible situation, they can’t admit they pay ransoms, otherwise it’s open season on all South Africans. “The money goes from the SA Treasury to an intermediary, sometimes a second one and then finally to the hostage-takers so the thread is lost and it’s much much more difficult to trace the ransom back to the government in question.” She reported how a retired European intelligence official revealed that e3.5m had been paid.

Stephen McGown was held hostage in Mali by al-Qaeda for six years. Today we can reveal how his release was negotiated. We hear from Stephen's father Malcolm and from Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman who supervised the negotiations with the hostage takers. In 2011 Stephen McGown set off to travel from the UK to South Africa on his motorbike. He was staying in a hotel in the Malian city of Timbuktu when he was captured.