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Last French hostage freed in Mali

Release of Serge Lazarevic after being held by Islamists for three years means there are now no more French hostages anywhere in world.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

The last French hostage to be held by Islamist militants has been freed after three years, French President François Hollande has announced, reports the BBC.

Serge Lazarevic was snatched in Mali in November 2011 along with fellow Frenchman Philippe Verdon.

Militants from the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group killed Mr Verdon last year in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali.

Mr Hollande said there were no more French hostages waiting to be freed.

Mr Lazarevic, he said, was in "relatively good health" despite the conditions of his captivity and was on his way to the neighbouring country of Niger from where he would return to France.

AQIM kidnapped a number of Western hostages before the French military deployed its forces against the group in January 2013.

There were at one point at least 14 French nationals being held by Islamists in West Africa.

"There are no more French hostages in any country in the world," Mr Hollande said.

He thanked the authorities in Niger and Mali, who had "worked towards this happy outcome".

Read more of this report from the BBC.