Swiss al-Qaida hostage released in Mali

BERN, Switzerland, July 12 (UPI) -- A Swiss man held hostage in Mali for six months by a group calling itself al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb has been freed, officials said Sunday.

Werner Greiner was seized in Niger on Jan. 22 and was the last of six Western hostages held by the group, the BBC reported.

"The Swiss Foreign Ministry (learned) with joy that the efforts towards the liberation of the last Swiss hostage in Mali have been successful," the ministry said in a statement.

Greiner was reportedly being treated in Mali before being flown back to Switzerland.

The al-Qaida group said in May it had executed British hostage Edwin Dyer after demanding the release of radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada from a British prison, the BBC said.