Four French hostages kidnapped in Niger in 2010 have been released, French President François Hollande has announced, reports BBC News.
He said the country's foreign and defence ministers "have left for Niamey" and the hostages would return home as soon as possible.
The four men were seized on 16 September 2010 in raids targeting two French firms operating a uranium mine near Arlit, northern Niger.
The al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group said it was responsible.
Mr Hollande made the announcement during a visit to Slovakia on Tuesday.
Breaking from the script of the speech he was giving, he said: "I have some good news. I just learned from Niger's president that our four hostages in the Sahel, the Arlit hostages, have been released."
"I want to express all my gratitude to the President of Niger who obtained the release of our compatriots," he added, without providing further details.
Niger's Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohammed told the BBC Hausa Service that the hostages were on their way to the capital Niamey to meet President Mahamadou Issoufou.
The four men were identified as Thierry Dol, Daniel Larribe, Pierre Legrand and Marc Feret.
"I'm happy, excited," Mr Legrand's aunt, Brigitte Laur, told the French news agency AFP. "We waited for so long. After three years it's hard to believe."
They were all employees at the uranium mine run by the French nuclear company Areva.
"We can't say that they're in great health but their health is fine," said a source close President Hollande, quoted by AFP.
Since their abduction there had been sporadic signs that they were alive, and a vocal campaign in their support was led by family members in France, the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris reports.
Read more of this report from BBC News.