May 19 (UPI) -- An elderly Australian doctor has been freed after being held hostage for more than seven years by al-Qaida in war-torn West Africa, Canberra said Friday.
Eighty-eight-year-old Kenneth Elliott is safe and well and has been reunited with his wife Jocelyn and their children, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a news release in which she praised the "strength and resilience Dr. Elliott and members of his family have shown through the most difficult of circumstances."
"We extend our thanks to the Australian officials who have worked over many years to secure Dr. Elliott's release and to provide support to his family," added Wong.
Originally from Perth, Elliott and his wife were both in their 80s when they were abducted by al-Qaida militants in Islamic Maghreb in 2016 in northern Burkina Faso where they had run a 120-bed clinic in the town of Djibo since 1972. Elliott worked as the clinic's lone surgeon.
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The group released Jocelyn after three weeks leading to a seven-year international campaign for Elliott's release by his family, the Australian government and the local community, whom the couple had helped over the decades.
"We express our relief that Dr. Elliott is free and thank the Australian Government and all who have been involved over time to secure his release," Elliott's family said in a statement. "We also continue to pray for those still held and wish them freedom and safe return to their loved ones.
"At 88 years of age, and after many years away from home, Dr. Elliott now needs time and privacy to rest and rebuild strength. We thank you for your understanding and sympathy."
In August, a Louisiana nun was freed five months after being abducted by gunmen in north-east Burkina Faso. Suellen Theresa Tennyson, 83, had been living in the country at the time she was seized in the town of Yalgo.
In September, the second military coup in eight months saw Cpt. Ibrahim Traore depose Burkina Faso's military ruler Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Damiba who in turn ousted the democratically elected President Roch Marc Kabore in January, dissolving parliament, the government and the constitution.
