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How I Negotiated With al-Qaeda

Stephen McGown was held hostage in Mali by al-Qaeda for six years. Today we can reveal how his release was negotiated. We hear from Stephen's father Malcolm and from Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman who supervised the negotiations with the hostage takers. In 2011 Stephen McGown set off to travel from the UK to South Africa on his motorbike. He was staying in a hotel in the Malian city of Timbuktu when he was captured.

Image: Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, chairman of the South African charity Gift of the Givers
Credit: Alex Housing

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Duration:

13 minutes