Durban - The Gift of the Givers Foundation said it had made contact with the al-Qaeda militants in Mali who kidnapped Stephen McGowan and the Swede, Johan Gustafsson, from Timbuktu four years ago.
On Wednesday morning the foundation’s chairman, Imtiaz Sooliman, said he had spoken to the negotiator in Mali at 4am on Wednesday who said he expected to receive a call connecting him with the captors at 1pm that day.
McGowan’s dad, Malcolm, said the family was “over the moon” at the breakthrough.
The humanitarian organisation said Wednesday also marked four years since the men were taken.
McGowan, Gustafson and Sjaak Rijke, a Dutch national, were taken hostage while sitting in a restaurant in Timbuktu in 2011.
A German tourist was killed during the capture.
Rijke was later freed during a gunfight between French forces and alleged terrorists in north eastern Mali.
Sooliman said the work was being done by Mohamed Yehia Dicko, a negotiator of Malian origin.
He was first sent by the organisation to Bamako in July this year to find the captors.
“Simultaneously, two videos were circulated internationally with the hope that the captors would find us,” he said.
Dicko’s journey took him to Gao and Kidal in Mali’s northern parts, and Niamey and Agadez in Niger, travelling thousands of kilometres by road, searching for a connection.
Verbal contact was made with people in Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
Religious teachers, tribal leaders, government officials, media experts and many people were met or contacted.
Sooliman said the breakthrough came at the end of July with the possibility that “someone” who could point them in the right direction had been found.
“In hindsight it was probably our most valuable pointer. At the beginning of September a second journey was undertaken and the ‘someone’ gave valuable advice and a very valuable connection.”
This “someone” reiterated that the biggest challenge was finding the right individual or group that would take up the case and present it to the captors, he said.
“This connection was the door, according to him. He was proved right.”
For 11 weeks they were told there would be an “answer” next week.
“This was a test of patience for us and a time of great difficulty for the families, who were clutching at anything in the hope that something positive happens.”
Last Friday they received a one-minute call at 10am to say they would receive a call that evening with “good news”.
That call came at 4am the next day. The caller said the captors had sent a video “specially for us, that it was not given to anyone else and that it will be put directly in our hands”.
The person went on to say that the men were healthy and were “waiting for us”. There was no mention of any demands and no details of what was on the video.
“On Sunday we got a call again and the person said we needed to collect the video and that it would be available soon. We asked did he see the video, he replied in the negative but said he would try to watch it. On Monday we got a call at noon to say that ‘the video is good and is waiting for us’.”
Sooliman said they were making arrangements to fetch the video and were waiting for instructions on how and where to obtain it but “we were told that we may have it by Friday”.
Sooliman said it seemed the captors had accepted Gift of the Givers as negotiators on behalf of both hostages.
Malcolm McGowan said he had been hoping that something would materialise and the wait for information had been stressful. “This is a real game of patience… My wife has been sick. It has been a real up and down ride,” Malcolm, said.
“Although first prize is having Stephen back home, a proof-of-life video will suffice for the time being.”
Earlier this year the Daily News reported that a video surfaced online showing Stephen and Gustafsson asking for help from the South African and Swedish governments. The men had shown no signs of ill-health.
On the recent attacks in Bamako, Mali, where 27 people died, Malcolm said: “I am thankful he wasn’t in Bamako.”
He said he talked to Sooliman about the events and realised the distance between Bamako and Timbuktu was big and any impact was unlikely.
Daily News
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