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Austrian hostages return after ordeal

Two Austrians freed after being held hostage in the Sahara for months by Islamic militants were exhausted but in good spirits when they arrived back in Austria on Saturday, two days after their release.

Austria’s Foreign Ministry said 51-year-old Wolfgang Ebner and 43-year-old Andrea Kloiber arrived safely in Vienna on Saturday.

Officials say the pair are in good health but were whisked to a hospital for routine medical checks.

They were released on Thursday in the West African nation of Mali after 252 days in captivity. Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa abducted the couple on Feb. 22 while they were on vacation in Tunisia.

Ebner and Kloiber made no public statements on arrival and a spokesman said they just want to be reunited with their families in Salzburg.

The freed hostages were accompanied by Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik.

“They have very difficult experiences behind them,” Plassnik said at Vienna airport in comments broadcast on television.

Earlier on Saturday Kloiber, wearing traditional Malian dress and a yellow turban, and Ebner, in khakis and a black T-shirt, appeared at a news conference in Bamako before being driven to the airport.

“We are happy to be Austrians and our compatriots can’t imagine how secure their lives are in Austria, and what the rest of the world lives like,” Ebner said.

It was not immediately clear how the pair had been freed.

Some media have reported a ransom was paid, despite denials by the Austrian and Malian governments.

“Mali has not received a single penny from Austria for any transaction, Mali has not paid anything in any transaction,” Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure told the news conference.

“A ransom payment definitely did not come from Austria,” Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal said.

“The next time you come to Mali on holiday, stick to Bamako and [smaller town] Segou,” Toure told Ebner before the pair left for home.
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