South African kidnapped by al Qaeda in Mali in 2011 released

South African Stephen McGowan, who was kidnapped by al Qaeda from the Mali tourist town of Timbuktu in 2011, has been released and is back home, foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Thursday.

No ransom was paid to secure the July 29 release of McGowan, who was undergoing medical checks, Nkoana-Mashabane told a news conference.