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Timbuktu three refers to three abductees,
South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...
Stephen Malcolm McGown, Swede Johan Gustafsson and Dutchman Sjaak Rijke, who were all kidnapped on 25 November 2011. A fourth
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
victim was shot and killed when he refused to climb into the kidnappers' truck. A unit of the
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
's North African branch: al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (
AQIM Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb ( ar-at, تنظيم القاعدة في بلاد المغرب الإسلامي, Tanẓīm al-Qā'idah fī Bilād al-Maghrib al-Islāmī), or AQIM, is an Islamist militant organization (of al-Qaeda) that aims to ...
) abducted the three from a residence shortly after eating lunch at a restaurant in
Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...
,
Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...
. Because McGown has dual citizenship, South African & British, the group offered a trade to the British Government for
Abu Qatada Abu Qatada () may refer to: * Abu Qatada al-Ansari (584–658/660), knight of the Rashidun Caliphate * Abu Qatada al-Filistini Omar Mahmoud Othman ( ar, عمر بن محمود بن عثمان, translit=‘Umar ibn Maḥmūd ibn ‘Uṯmān; ...
who was to be deported to
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, where he had been convicted of involvement in militant plots. Following the kidnapping, several videos were released of the three, offered as proof of life. Rijke was rescued by French forces in April 2015. Gustafsson was released in June 2017, and McGown was released in July 2017.


Sjaak Rijke

Sjaak Rijke () is a Dutch national who was held hostage by a faction of
Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...
in the
Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
region in Mali since 25 November 2011 with Stephen Malcolm McGown from South Africa and Johan Gustafsson from Sweden. He was liberated by French special forces in the north of Mali on 6 April 2015.


Abduction

Rijke, who worked as a train driver in his native country of the Netherlands, was taken hostage in
Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...
in northern Mali on 25 November 2011, together with McGown and Gustafsson. They were all in Mali as tourists, despite the recent unrest and insurgencies in the region. Rijke's wife managed to escape the attack by hiding from the perpetrators. A German tourist who refused to cooperate with the attackers was killed at the scene. Rijke, McGown and Gustafsson were subsequently taken to an undisclosed hiding place. After his hostage taking, the Government of the Netherlands issued a negative travel advice for the northern part of Mali.


Aftermath

In a video posted on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
on 12 July 2012, Rijke said he had been captured by Al Qaeda and that he was treated well. One month later, in August 2012, Arabic TV news broadcaster
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
broadcast a report in which Rijke and the other two hostages were featured, urging their respective governments to negotiate with Al Qaeda for their release. In September 2013, almost two years after the kidnapping, AQIM released a video in which Rijke called upon the Dutch government "not to forget about him". The video was probably recorded in June 2013. It was the first sign of Rijke or any of the other hostages since French military actions in Mali in January 2013 when Islamist radicals had threatened to capture Mali's capital
Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...
. On 21 August 2014, on social media the case of Sjaak Rijke caught slight attention with the hashtag #FreeSjaak, commemorating 1000 days of captivity. In November 2014, AQIM released another video in which Rijke addresses the Dutch government and his family. He says he is in pain and in a difficult security situation, and asks in an emotional way to please help him. The video was made on 26 September 2014, according to Rijke. Rijke ultimately survived the kidnapping, having been rescued by soldiers of the BFST in April 2015. In late June 2017, Gustafsson was released and flown to Sweden. No details about the negotiations were made public at the time. In late July 2017, McGown was released and returned to South Africa. South African officials refused to comment on the terms of the negotiations, but ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that the South African government paid €3.5 million (about $4.2 million) to McGown's captors using South African charity
Gift of the Givers Gift of the Givers (founded as ''Waqful Waqifin'') is a South African non-governmental organisation and disaster relief group, and Africa's largest independent humanitarian organisation. It was established to offer disaster relief and response, ...
as an intermediary.


See also

*
List of kidnappings The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each individual case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings. Before 1900 1900–1949 ...
* List of solved missing person cases


References

{{Reflist 2010s missing person cases 2011 crimes in Mali Formerly missing people Kidnappings by Islamists Kidnapping in the 2010s Kidnappings in Mali Missing person cases in Africa November 2011 events in Africa Terrorist incidents attributed to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb