Italian woman abducted in Algeria is free, minister says
Italy's Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi on Tuesday confirmed reports of the freeing of an Italian woman abducted in Algeria in February last year, dpa reported.
"Maria Sandra Mariani is free. I have just informed her family," Terzi said in a statement in Rome.
"My heartfelt thanks go to all those who contributed to the positive outcome of this event with great dedication and constant professionalism," Terzi said.
No further details were immediately available.
Earlier, Italian media cited Dubai-based television station al-Arabiya as saying that an Italian woman kidnapped in Algeria had been freed.
A few days after she disappeared in the Algerian desert on February 2, 2011, Mariani in an audiotape aired by al-Arabiya said she was being held by the North African branch of al-Qaeda.
The recording also began with a man speaking in Arabic claiming that Mariani was being held by the Tarek ibn Zyad battalion of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The 54-year-old was abducted in Alidena, an area about 130 kilometres south of Djanet, the main town in south-eastern Algeria.
