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Stephen McGown Free: Man Held Captive By Al Qaeda For Six Years Now Free

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 04:32 PST, Aug 5, 2017

In July this year, an Al Qaeda-linked group released a proof-of-life video showing Stephen McGown and five other foreign hostages from Australia, France, Switzerland, Romania, and Colombia.

Today, Stephen McGown is a free man.

Johan Gustafsson, a Swedish national who was being held with Stephen, was released in June this year. Johan and Stephen were among three hostages taken from a hotel in Timbuktu in 2011. A Dutch national, Sjaak Rijke, was freed during a raid in 2015. The trio was snatched from a restaurant in Timbuktu along with a German friend, who was killed immediately by the militants.

The Telegraph reported that Stephen McGown, who has both British and South African citizenship, was held captive in northern Mali for six long years.

On July 25, Stephen McGown was released from captivity and finally reunited with his family on July 30 in Johannesburg.

His father, Malcolm McGown, said that Stephen is in very good health.

“It was a big surprise when Stephen walked through the door. When I gave him a hug, he felt as strong and as sound as before, so he was well treated up there.”

Brian Dube, a government spokesperson, said that the governments of South Africa and Mali had been working for six years on Stephen McGown’s release and had kept the family informed of the possible release.

Sadly, Stephen’s mother Beverley died in May, just two months before her son’s long-awaited release.

Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is South Africa’s Minister of International relations and cooperation. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday morning, he confirmed that Stephen McGown’s mother Beverley passed away in May.

“The government once again extends its deepest condolences to Stephen and his family.”

The South African-based aid organization Gift of the Givers Foundation also negotiated with the militants in Mali for Stephen’s release, but according to Imtiaz Sooliman, the head of the group, it was not involved in the final stages of the operation.

“We pushed for many months saying, he’s got no money – he’s alone. His mother passed away. We pushed for it on compassionate grounds.”

The Times reported that Stephen McGown was a banker working for Investec who had spent several years living in Putney, West London, with his wife Katherine.

The couple was moving back to South Africa, so Katherine flew on ahead while Stephen undertook a motorcycle tour through Europe and Africa.

At one stage of his captivity, his captors offered to release him in return for the freedom of the radical cleric Abu Qatada, who was then in British custody awaiting extradition to Jordan. Qatada is now free, having been cleared of terrorist charges.

News 24 reported that Malcolm McGown never stopped believing his son would come home.

Malcolm said that Stephen’s blue off-road motorbike is parked in the garage, covered in red sand and gritty from time spent in the Sahara Desert, but he has no intention of cleaning it. Malcolm has been saving this task for Stephen for more than five years, always hoping that his son would be freed by Al Qaeda.

“Stephen can wash it when he gets back. I think it will be good therapy for him.”

Stephen’s motorbike was found outside the backpackers’ lodge where he had been staying and was delivered to his parents at their Sandton home in Johannesburg after he was kidnapped.

For a long time, this motorbike was their only link to their son being held hostage in a faraway land; but then something amazing happened: a video was released by Stephen’s captors with proof that he was still alive.

“When I saw Stephen’s face for the first time in the video, my heart wanted to break. I wanted to weep with joy that my son was still alive. It confirmed to me that he’d be coming home. I’ll get to see him again.”

Now, Stephen is home with his family, mourning the loss of his mother who missed seeing her son released from captivity.

Malcolm said that Stephen’s wife Catherine, who had been married to Stephen for four and a half years when Stephen was kidnapped, has decided not to undertake any interviews.

[Featured Image by NEstudio/Shutterstock]

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