Emmanuel Macron receives French journalist Olivier Dubois, hostage for two years of jihadists in the Sahel and released, at noon Monday, at the Villacoublay air base, near Paris, the Elysee announced on Tuesday 21 March.
Olivier Dubois, who was kidnapped on April 8, 2021 in Mali, will arrive at noon (11am GMT) in Villacoublay from Niamey in Niger.
sequel after announcement
He will be welcomed there by the French president after gathering the majority’s key executives at the Elysee Palace in the morning to examine what follow-up would be awarded to an unpopular pension reform that was finally adopted on Monday but remains hotly contested.
Another French hostage
Olivier Dubois was released at the same time as American hostage Jeffrey Woodkey, a Christian humanist who was kidnapped on October 14, 2016 in Niger.
Olivier Dubois, who is not known whether or not he remained in Mali throughout his detention, is the latest French national held hostage by a non-state organization since the release of Sophie Petronin, who was kidnapped in Mali in October 2020.
