Yolande Korkie, a South African national who was kidnapped in Taiz last May by al-Qaeda militants with her husband Pierre Korkie, was release on Friday by her kidnappers after intense negotiations.
The couple came first to Yemen four years ago to teach English.
Imtiaz Sooliman, Head of South Africa Gift of the Givers, the non-governmental organisation which has been negotiating for the couple’s release has confirmed it actively worked to secure both Yolande and Pierre’ safe returns to South Africa and will continue to do so.
The Korkie’s kidnappers have now requested a ransom of $3 million in order to let Pierre Korkie go. Should Yolande fail to raise the money within eight days, her husband would risk being executing by his abductors.
Sooliman who has been in contact with Yolande told reporters on Saturday, “Yolande is crying uncontrollably. They told her: ‘Your husband’s life is in your hands.”
Sooliman added with Anas al-Hamati (Gift of the Givers representatives in Yemen), he would now attempt to negotiate a lower ransom and a longer grace period as to give Pierre a fighting chance.
Yolande who is set to return to South Africa as soon as possible is eagerly awaited by her family. A family spokesman said on Saturday, “We’re elated about Yolande. It came unexpectedly and, therefore, there was no anticipation really of an imminent release. Initially, we were sceptical when we first heard about her release. We thought where does this come from? Who established her release? But once the government confirmed it, it sank home and from that point onwards, it was chaos trying to find out where she was and how long it would be before anyone saw her.”
While Yemeni officials welcomed Yolande’s release, many fear that as long as money is being exchanged against the release of abductees, al-Qaeda will continue to use the kidnapping of foreign nationals to finance its operations in Yemen, thus jeopardizing Yemen anti-terror efforts.