Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, a Colombian nun who was kidnapped on Feb. 7, 2017 by Al Qaeda in Mali, Africa, was released from captivity on Saturday, Oct. 9. Narvaez is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a Swiss-born congregation founded in 1893 in Colombia with a presence in 17 countries.
Narvaez was kidnapped near the town of Koutiala, 400 kilometers east of the capital, Bamako, after working for six years as a missionary in the parish of Karangasso.
"The Presidency of Mali salutes the courage and bravery of the nun. This release is the culminating achievement of four years and eight months of combined efforts of various intelligence services", the Malian presidency said through a statement.
Marta Lucia Ramirez, Colombia's vice president, expressed the country's relief over the release.
"I am immensely happy with the news of the release in Mali of our dear compatriot, the nun Gloria Cecilia Narváez, an objective that we in the National Government had set ourselves and for which with President Duque we had been working for many months," said Ramirez.
"We are very happy and thankful for this happy result for our compatriot, her family, her friends and for all Colombians," added the president.
In her first statements to Mali state television, Narvaez thanked the efforts of the Malian government for her release and noted that she was in good health throughout her captivity of nearly five years.
"I want to thank very much the people of Karangasso for their prayers and all the efforts they made to obtain my release. And I ask forgiveness for all Malians, for all the people who were perhaps not well [because of me]," the nun said.
Currently, the Al Qaeda-linked group is still holding several people hostage, including an American cleric kidnapped in Niger and a French journalist.
Lucrative kidnappings
In 2018, Al Qaeda-affiliated jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) in the Sahel claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and released a hostage video showing Narvaez pleading to be freed. Pressured by her captors, Narvaez made a direct appeal to the pope: "I ask Pope Francis to help me until I reach my freedom and to do the impossible to free me," she said.
Mali has been battling an insurgency of Islamist militants since 2012, in which kidnapping has become a common occurrence and a lucrative source of cash for the jihadist groups.
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