Romanian PM thanks Morocco for role in hostage liberation

Romanian Prime Minister thanked Morocco’s intelligence services for their role in the liberation of a Romanian national held hostage by an armed group loyal to Al Qaeda in Burkina Faso.

Following a phone call with his Moroccan peer Aziz Akhannouch, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Looking forward to continuing dialogue and building our cooperation further. Special thanks to Morocco intelligence services for the recent cooperation in releasing citizen Iulian Gherguț, who was kidnapped in Burkina Faso.”

Earlier, Romanian foreign minister Luminita Odobescu had phone talks with Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita during which he lauded the “excellent” bilateral ties and thanked Morocco for its “key role” in helping set free the Romanian hostage.

Ghergut worked at a manganese mine in Burkina Faso near the Malian border until his kidnapping by the Al Mourabitoun jihadist group in 2015. His liberation was announced on August 9.

Morocco had also helped release German humanitarian worker Jorg Lange in Mali in December 2022, according to German media.

Lange was the head of Help Niger NGO and was kidnapped in April 2018 on the borders with Mali together with his driver who was released soon after.