Swiss, Austrian women freed after Niger kidnap ordeal

A Swiss woman and an Austrian woman kidnapped in Niger more than a year and a half ago have been freed, Bern and Vienna announced Thursday.

Swiss national Claudia Abbt, 69, arrived in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi together with 76-year-old Eva Gretzmacher, Libyan media outlets reported earlier, following an intervention from the military commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls eastern Libya and parts of the south.

Gretzmacher was taken on January 11, 2025, while Abbt was captured in April last year. No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the abductions.

“The Swiss citizen who was kidnapped in Niger on April 13, 2025, has been released,” the foreign ministry in Bern said in a statement.

“She was met in Benghazi, Libya, by Swiss federal administration staff and received medical care. She is doing well under the circumstances and is currently on her way back to Switzerland.”

Meanwhile, Vienna confirmed that Gretzmacher had been freed, and was received by an Austrian crisis response team earlier Thursday following “intensive diplomatic efforts to secure her release”.

“We are all very relieved that Eva G. is free again after more than 21 months. This period has been an unimaginable ordeal for her and her family,” Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said in a statement.

“Today is a special day that moves us all.

“For many months, we worked closely, discreetly and in a spirit of trust with our regional, European, and international partners. These joint efforts have paid off.”

– Relief –
The two women were both living in Agadez in northern Niger when they were captured.

Though no group has claimed the kidnappings, many experts and Nigerien media outlets have suggested that the Islamic State in the Sahel jihadist group, or its affiliated groups, could be responsible.

“I am relieved that the kidnapped Swiss woman is free again after more than a year and a half,” Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said in the statement.

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“I would like to thank all parties involved, both in Switzerland and abroad, that worked tirelessly to secure her release.”

After the kidnapping came to light, the Swiss foreign ministry set up a task force including police and intelligence resources to try to secure her release.

“The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs extends its gratitude to all national and international partners for their excellent cooperation in this case,” it said.

The ministry said it would not be providing further details, for privacy protection reasons.

Looking tired, the two women appeared in a video broadcast by the Libyan eastern-based television channel Al-Masar.

Sitting beneath a portrait of military commander and Libyan National Army chief Haftar, they spoke in French to confirm their names, ages, nationalities and time in captivity, and to thank Haftar and his son Saddam for having secured their freedom.

Several media outlets also circulated a photograph of the two women seated inside an aircraft.

Libya has remained divided since being plunged into war during the ousting in 2011 of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Two governments are currently vying for power: the UN-recognised administration in Tripoli led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival in Benghazi backed by Haftar.

A Malian security source told AFP that the women were transported by plane early Wednesday from Nigerien territory to Benghazi.

“The two had been held for a time in northern Mali, but the resolution came from the Libyan side, notably involving the Haftar clan,” the source said.

AFP