Gerco Van Deventer, a South African citizen claimed that he was captured in Libya and handed over to the Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) in northern Mali, according to Africa News Agency (APA).
He claimed to be a captive of the al-Qaeda branch in Mali. After several years in Afghanistan where he served in several roles in the private sector, Gerco Van Deventer, a military doctor, entered South Africa in 2017.
He accepted a position as an ambulance driver in Libya, which has been in the grip of a security and institutional crisis since the death of former leader Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. He was kidnapped in Libya on the 3rd of November 2017 before being “sold” eight months later to the GSIM, in utmost secrecy. However, his relatives had campaigned for his release without avail.
In a two-minute video released in January 2019, Gerco Van Deventer sobbed as he called for his release, referring to his state of health.
At the time, his captors were demanding 1.5 million dollars, according to the director of the NGO Gift of the Givers, Dr Imtiaz Soliman, quoted by South African media outlet News24.com.
“After many failed attempts by the jihadists to contact the government, they have failed and my existence has no value to them. So, I am trying something to stay alive,” he said in the latest video.
Over the last few years, the Libyan National Army (LNA) launched massive campaigns against Islamic State (IS) militants in southern and central Libya. LNA forces carried out a qualitative military operation, during which they targeted a number of militants and destroyed armored vehicles.
Oil-rich Libya plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. In the chaos that followed, the country split, with the rival administrations backed by rogue militias and foreign governments. The country’s current political crisis stems from the failure to hold elections on the 24th of December 2021.
The country’s Prime Minister, Abdelhamid Al-Dbaiba who is leading a transitional government in Tripoli has refused to step down. The country’s eastern-based Parliament appointed a rival Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, who is seeking Libya’s United Nations (UN) seat.
