Hostage’s dad elated by proof-of-life video

Malcolm McGown said that every time a video was received of his son, who is being held by al-Qaeda, it was exciting.

Duban - “It’s so good to see our son,” an elated Malcolm McGown said on Wednesday after videos of his son, Stephen, and Swede Johan Gustafsson, taken hostage by al-Qaeda militants in Timbuktu four years ago,were released by their captors.

The videos show the pair to be in good health.

The proof-of-life videos, released late on Tuesday night, are less than a minute long and appear to have been filmed on October 20.

In McGown’s video, he looks nourished and clean, but has a long beard. He is seated in front of a tan tarpaulin.

He says to his wife and family: “I understand that I may be seeing you soon, I understand there is a South African organisation (the Pietermaritzburg-based Gift of the Givers Foundation) involved brokering the release; I thank this organisation for bringing this to a close and having me home soon. I thank you.”

He tells them he is well and that he hoped they were too.

McGown also thanked the South African government for its continued efforts in negotiating his release.

McGown, Gustafsson and a Dutch national, Sjaak Rijke, were taken hostage while sitting in a restaurant in Timbuktu in 2011.

Rijke was later freed during a gunfight between French forces and the alleged terrorists.

The Daily News reported last week that the Gift of the Givers Foundation – which had taken on the role of negotiator for McGown and Gustafsson’s releases – had made contact with the men’s captors.

The foundation sent one of its members to Mali aboard an emergency flight, to collect a copy of the video because the captors did not want it sent electronically.

In a statement late on Tuesday night, which included the video link, the foundation’s chairman, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, said after “a week of tense waiting and patience”, two videos – one of each of the hostages – were received at 1pm on Tuesday.

He told the Daily News, the videos had taken several hours to transfer.

He said the videos, purported to have been filmed on October 20, seemed “absolutely credible and realistic”.

“The most heartening aspect of the video(s) is the fact that the captives are now aware that negotiations are under way for their release, which would certainly instil a great deal of hope and positivity in them,” he said.

Malcolm McGown said that every time a proof-of-life video was received, it was exciting.

He was aware the situation remained precarious but was hopeful of a positive outcome.

“I think we’re going down the right path,” the elated father said.

Daily News