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(UPDATE: March 14, 2020): A Canadian woman and her Italian travelling companion who were suspected to have been abducted in West Africa 15 months ago have been released, according to the Canadian government.
Today, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne confirmed in a tweet that Edith Blais was coming home.
“I just spoke to Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto. I can confirm they are safe,” Champagne tweeted. “We look forward to Edith returning home.”
I just spoke to Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto. I can confirm they are safe. I would like to thank my counterpart from Mali @t_drame and the President @PresidenceMali, the @UN_MINUSMA and Burkina Faso for their cooperation. We look forward to Edith returning home.
— François-Philippe Champagne (FPC) 🇨🇦 (@FP_Champagne) March 14, 2020
Blais, age 35, of Sherbrooke, Que., and Luca Tacchetto, age 31, had been travelling by car in southwestern Burkina Faso, heading to Toga to do volunteer work when they vanished around Dec. 15, 2018.
A month later, Burkina Faso’s security minister referred to the pair’s disappearance as a kidnapping, but the Canadian government did not confirm that, saying only that officials hadn’t ruled out any possibilities.
Sources said that the two arrived in Bamako, the capital of Mali, just before noon local time on Saturday after spending the night at a UN camp in Kidal, in the northeastern part of the country.
The pair apparently fled their captors, flagged down a private vehicle and asked to be taken to United Nations camp in the area.
Edith Blais and Luca Tacchetto, a Quebec Canadian & Venice Italian couple who were abducted mid December 2018 have regained their freedom after their abductors dropped em off at Kidal N. Mali for U.N blue helmets after eventual ransom payment.
— Edward (@DonKlericuzio) March 14, 2020
They've just arrived Bamako. pic.twitter.com/mdxOK5IxlK
Instead, they were dropped off at a UN checkpoint where soldiers with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in the area took them the rest of the way. After spending the night at the camp, they were flown to the capital on Saturday.
The UN mission’s spokesman tweeted a photo of Blais and Tacchetto, both wearing white UN human rights T-shirts and sweatpants and smiling, with the caption “They are free.” He later tweeted photos of the pair meeting with Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
(Original Story: March 31, 2019)
Canadian woman Edith Blais has been missing for several months after travelling to West Africa, and was reportedly kidnapped and taken to Mali.
Blais, who is from Quebec, and her travel companion, Luca Taccheto of Italy, went missing in December while in Burkina Faso.
They were travelling by car in southwestern Burkina Faso en route to Togo, where they planned to do volunteer work with an aid group.
In a January statement, Burkina Faso’s government referred to the pair’s disappearance as a kidnapping.
Although the Canadian government didn’t confirm this, they didn’t rule anything out either.
A recent report by Human Rights Watch indicates that they were indeed abducted.
“While no armed Islamist group has taken responsibility for their abduction, they are believed to have been kidnapped and later taken to Mali,” the report, titled “Abuses by Armed Islamist Groups in Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region,” states.
The report cites an interview with Malian security sources on Jan. 13. It does not mention what might happen to the two captives.
In January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he believed Blais was still alive.
“As far as we know, she is,” Trudeau said when asked by a reporter whether Blais was still alive. He said Blais’ story has people across the country preoccupied.
“Our hearts go out to the family of Edith Blais and the entire community,” he said.
Trudeau made that statement the day after another Canadian was found dead in northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali and Niger.
The man, Kirk Woodman, was an executive at a mining company based in Vancouver. He was taken by gunpoint as he worked on a gold mining project.
-With files from The Canadian Press.
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