On this Wednesday, March 8th, 2023, it will have been 23 months since Olivier Dubois, an independent journalist who has contributed to publications such as Liberation, Jeune Afrique, and Le Point, was taken, hostage. The incident occurred while he was reporting in Gao, located in northern Mali, by the militant group Jnim, the Support Group for Islam and Muslims, which has links to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
In almost two years now, the kidnappers of French journalist Olivier Dubois have released two videos, two proofs of the life of our colleague. The French and Malian authorities have on several occasions expressed their full mobilization.
Recently, Abou Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, made a statement wherein he asserted that the responsibility of negotiating his release rested solely on the French authorities.
Until then, like every 8th of the month, RFI opens its antenna to the relatives of Olivier Dubois, who has already, in the last video broadcast by his captors, confirmed that these messages reached him.