Romania Thanks Morocco After A Hostage Held Since 2015 Is Released

Bucharest, August 10 (TNA) Romania has thanked the Kingdom of Morocco for its "significant support" for the release of Romanian hostage Iulian Ghergut, held in the Sahel since 2015.

In a press release, the Romanian foreign ministry announced the release of the security officer of a manganese mine in northern Burkina Faso, near the borders with Mali and Niger, who had been kidnapped on April 4, 2015 by the Al-Mourabitoune group, allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), while thanking Morocco for its "significant support" and its decisive role in his release.

According to the ministry, Iulian Ghergut is currently safe in Romania, where he returned on Wednesday. Ghergut, 47 at the time of his kidnapping, had been working in a manganese mine in northeast Burkina Faso when he was taken on April 4, 2015. 

For his part, President Klaus Iohannis thanked, via the social network X (formerly Twitter), the "external partners who supported" Romania "in this difficult undertaking".