PARIS
Serge Lazarevic, the last French hostage known to be held at any location in the world, has arrived back in France after three years in captivity in Mali.
Lazarevic was welcomed by French President Francois Hollande at a military airport outside Paris on Wednesday after flying in from Niger, before having an emotional reunion with his mother and sister.
Lazarevic told reporters: "Life is beautiful - to be free again. I had forgotten what it is like to be free. I will never forget it again."
"Welcome back, Mr. Lazarevic, we've been waiting for you for three years," said Hollande.
- Hostage executed
Lazarevic, 50, was kidnapped from a hotel in northeast Mali by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on Nov.24, 2011 along with French-Serbian Philippe Verdon.
Verdon was found dead with a bullet in his head in July, 2013.
The group had claimed that Verdon was a spy and said the "execution" had been carried out in retaliation for French military intervention in Mali.
Hollande had said early last month that Lazarevic was "probably" still alive after AQIM released a video showing him and a Dutch hostage pleading for help from their governments and urging France not to participate in the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, or ISIL.
www.aa.com.tr/en
