‘Being in charge of myself’ was freed hostage Stephen McGown’s dream
Apart from missing his family‚ Stephen McGown was looking forward to obtaining his freedom after being taken hostage by Islamist militants in Mali in 2011‚ McGown was abducted while seated in a restaurant in Timbuktu. He was in the country as a tourist‚ travelling by motorcycle. "I was looked after well‚ but I was looking forward to getting freedom‚ being in charge of yourself‚" he said of his more than six years in captivity. McGown was recently freed by his al-Qaeda-linked captives. He was the last of three hostages to be released after Dutchman Sjaak Rijke was freed in 2015‚ and Swede Johan Gustafsson in June 2017. McGown said he had been in the dark when he was kept in the desert. He had not heard of his mother’s death until he was released two weeks ago. "I suspected my mother had passed away. I found out on the Sunday I came back. My mother was an amazing lady. What a role model. "I didn’t have any information. Not having many books in English‚ not knowing Arabic and French‚ [...
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