(ANSA) - Rome, May 22 - Alessandro Sandrini, a Brescia native
who was taken hostage near the Turkey-Syria border in October
2016, has been released by an al-Qaeda linked anti-government
group near Idlib, the militia said Wednesday.
The self-styled 'government of national salvation', a Syrian
branch of the al Qaeda galaxy and the political arm of the
strongest Qaeda-linked group in and around Idlib, Hayat Tahrir
Sham, published photos of Sandrini, 32, on social network and
said that he had been in the hands of a gang of criminals.
Turkey, a strong influence in the region, has links to the
government of national salvation.
Sandrini's father said in Brescia: "I can confirm it, my son
is free, he's still in Syria but in the hands of our
Carabinieri".
"I'm over the moon," said Gianfranco Sandrini, it's the end
of a nightmare, now I'm going to Rome, I hope I can speak to him
on the phone tonight".
The national salvation government's self-styled interior
minister, said Sandrini had been freed after "negotiations" with
the terrorists.
The government's communique did not mention a ransom.
It said Sandrini had been handed over to "the government of
his country" without mentioning any possible Turkish role in the
affair.
Self-styled Deputy Interior Minister Colonel Ali Kedde said
police patrols under the command of the interior ministry had
identified the gang holding Sandrini.
The gang had been hoping for a ransom, he said.
The colonel said Sandrini had been freed after an "indirect
negotiation" between the ministry and the unidentified "gang".
Sandrini's kidnapping was only reported in December 2017, a
year after he disappeared after travelling to Turkey in October
2016.
Then, after four phone calls to his mother over the course of
several months, a dramatic video was posted showing him in an
orange jumpsuit and guarded by two men with AK-47s.
In the video, Sandrini said they he feared his captors would
kill him soon.
"They have given me the chance to communicate for the last
time," Sandrini said in the video released by The SITE
intelligence group that monitors online jihadism.
"I ask Italy to help me, to wrap up this situation quickly.
"I've been in prison for two years and I can't stand it any
more.
"They have said that they are fed up, that they will kill me
if things are not resolved soon.
"I can't see a future. I don't know what to think... today is
July 19, 2018".
Sandrini left home in Brescia on October 3 2016, when he
boarded a flight from the local Orio al Serio airport which took
him via Istanbul to Adana, a Turkish town 180 km from Aleppo.
"I'm going on holiday," he told his family.
Over the last year Sandrini's name has appeared twice among
defendants in trials in Brescia.
One trial, for robbery and receiving stolen goods, was for
allegedly trying to sell tablets stolen from a fast food joint
at Desenzano del Garda to a group of Chinese alleged fences; and
the other was for a robbery he allegedly committed in October
2016.
Sandrini freed in Syria
Freed by Qaeda-linked group from 'criminal gang' near Idlib