Harare — German missionary Father Hans Joachim Lohre, who was abducted in Bamako, Mali, last year, was set free by his captors, Reuters reports.
After thirty years of living in the Malian capital, Lohre was scheduled to celebrate mass on a Sunday morning when his colleagues observed that his phone was off and his car was still parked in front of his home.
A request for response was not immediately answered by the Mali authorities. The German Foreign Office declined to respond through a spokesman. Church representatives and a representative of the Malian government reportedly confirmed his release, which took place on Sunday, November 26, 2023. He returned to Germany immediately on a special airplane, presumably as a result of direct negotiations with the German administration.
Germany continues to maintain a military presence in Mali as part of the MINUSMA UN peacekeeping mission. The military, which seized control of Mali in a coup in 2020, demanded that it be phased out by the end of the year.