Africaupdated 1h ago2 min read
Swiss Eva Gretzmacher and Austrian Claudia Abbt Freed After Captivity in Niger
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Swiss Eva Gretzmacher and Austrian Claudia Abbt abducted in Agadez, Niger in Jan 2025. Freed after a year in captivity, they were handed to Libyan authorities in Benghazi.
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“According to reports from Libya, the release was made possible by the intervention of Saddam Haftar, the deputy commander-in-chief of the LNA.”
“Speaking in French, the women thanked Khalifa Haftar, the military commander in eastern Libya, and his son, Saddam Haftar, for their release.”
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Niger to Benghazi
Two European women, Swiss national Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Austrian national Claudia Abbt, 69, were freed after more than a year in captivity in Niger and handed over to authorities in the Libyan city of Benghazi. The women had been kidnapped separately in the northern Nigerien city of Agadez in January and April last year, and Libyan officials were reported as saying the women would be handed over to authorities in their respective countries after the necessary procedures were completed.
BBC reported that Austrian national Eva Gretzmacher, 76, and Swiss Claudia Abbt, 69, were freed after more than a year in captivity in Niger and handed over to authorities in Benghazi, and it said the Austrian and Swiss governments confirmed the release of their citizens. The women thanked Khalifa Haftar, the military commander in eastern Libya, and his son, Saddam Haftar, for their release, and al-Masar television showed the women entering what appeared to be an ambulance before receiving attention from a health worker.
Diplomacy and a task force
Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in a statement, "We are all very relieved that Eva G. is free again after more than 21 months," and she described working "closely, discreetly" with partners. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis thanked those involved in her release, adding that he was "relieved that [she] is free again after more than a year and a half," and the government said it had established a task force including the foreign affairs department, police and other agencies.
The Swiss government said Abbt was free and on her way back to Switzerland, and it said federal administration officials had met Abbt in Benghazi and she had received medical care. Libyan officials were reported as saying the women would be handed over to authorities in their respective countries after necessary procedures were completed, while a plane was expected to leave Benghazi on Thursday, stopping first in Vienna to transfer Gretzmacher to Austrian authorities before continuing to Switzerland with Abbt.
Sahel insecurity and Libya
Arise News said the release came against the backdrop of persistent insecurity in the Sahel region, where groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State have carried out kidnappings and deadly attacks for years. Niger has been under military rule since 2023, when General Abdourahmane Tchiani deposed the country’s elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, and Libya remains divided between rival administrations, with one based in the east backed by Haftar and another in the capital, Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.
El Mundo said the two women arrived in Benghazi thanks to the intervention of the Deputy Commander in Chief, Saddam Haftar, and it quoted Al-Masar saying, "He intervened in the efforts to secure their release in response to requests from their families." The release also unfolded amid Libya’s post-2011 instability, with the country struggling to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, and with the women later appearing visibly tired in a video circulated by Al-Masar.